Butterflies of the Night
by Fallen Angel23
Summary: An AU, non-yaoi couples. Kyoto in the 1920's is a world of earthly delights, beauty and mysterious geisha who are the butterflies of the night. But it is also a world of soldiers and war. Can love survive the turmoil when the two worlds collide?
1. Relena

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Butterflies of the Night 

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Author: Fallen Angel fallen_angel_2012@hotmail.com

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Rating: PG-13 for now, but may contain R material later on.

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Disclaimer: I don't own Gundam Wing and am making no money from this. Don't sue.

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A/N and summary: This story came from the result of my 20th reading of 'Memoirs of a Geisha' by Arthur Golden and 'Geisha' by Liza Dalby, both of which are absolutely fascinating, whether or not you have an interest in Japanese culture. [Freely given advice, btw] Also, a lot of this story was inspired by what I myself experienced and read during my time in Japan and my studies.

So basically, the girls are living in Kyoto in the 1920's or 1930's as geisha, etc. and the guys have various other roles. And, for simplicity's sake, everyone is Japanese unless otherwise said so. Please bear with me on the Japanese words: translations are offered at the end. K, on with the story…

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Chapter 1: Relena

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It was only a dream.

But it felt so real.

She was back in her birth home, out in the country in the Western Honshu region, just past Hiroshima. Her parents were dead, as they had been since Relena was just a little girl, so she could hardly picture them into her dreams. Her brother was with her, though, caring for her as he always had, with the help of his wife, Lucrezia Noin. Hilde - Noin's little sister - was also there and the closest thing to a sister Relena would ever have.

In her dream, she was back in the day that they had come to take her brother. It had started off as such a happy day: Noin was cooking lunch while Zechs was fishing in the nearby river, taking a break from his job in the village as a bank clerk. She and Hilde were lying in the soft grass in the fields, watching the clouds go by and dreaming of their prince charming, as 15-year-old girls should.

And then everything changed forever.

The sound of hoof beats riding up the dirt road to their home alerted them from their dreams and drew them through the grass to the side of the house. There they watched in silence as Noin argued with one of the men on the horses - there seemed to be half a dozen of them. But more surprising than the sight of calm Noin arguing with a stranger was his appearance itself. He was dressed all in green and a sword hung from the belt around his waist. Hilde and Relena knew enough from their lessons at school that this man with the pompous attitude and sneering gaze was a soldier, as were his men.

The sound of their arguing got louder, though neither of the girls could make out what he was saying…

"Relena."

Relena scowled in her sleep. That wasn't what he'd said. But even now the dream was receding and she could tell the voice was that of Hilde's.

"Relena, wake up."

Relena turned on her futon and pulled the blanket tighter up to her neck, clinging to sleep for a few precious moments. She didn't want to be back in the here-and-now. She wanted to return to four years ago…

"Relena! Sally-san wants you. Now. She says it's important."

With a grunt, Relena threw back her blanket and sat up. Hilde was kneeling beside her on the _tatami _with a doleful expression on her face.

"I'm sorry to wake you but…"

"Yes, I know. Sally-san wants me."

Hilde frowned slightly. "For someone so nice and gentle you can be really crabby in the mornings."

Relena sighed as she stood up, wrapping her robe more tightly around her as she moved in front of the mirror. Carefully, she put her hair back in order before turning to Hilde. "I'm sorry, Hilde. I don't mean to be so difficult. But I had a big night last night. I think I overdid the _sake._"

"That's not like you," said Hilde, her frown deepening. 

"I know. Perhaps this place is getting to me. Maybe I'm just having a rough week."

"Well," the dark-haired girl began, trying to sound optimistic, "maybe Sally-san will have good news."

"Perhaps," said Relena, making her way downstairs. Sally was most likely in the front room, having tea with Noin as she balanced the books. It was part of her job as _Okaasan _of the _okiya _tomaintain their budget and keep track of who owed what. Unlike most 'mothers' - the women who ran the geisha houses and were only mothers to the geisha there in theory - Sally preferred to be called by her name. She said any other way made her feel old, which she wasn't at 23. The same age as Noin.

Sure enough, Relena found both women in the front room, sipping green tea…_ocha_. Although they weren't discussing the budget if the looks on their faces were anything to go by. In fact, they seemed quite animated and excited. 

"Ohayoo gozaimasu." Relena gave a little bow. "You wanted me, Sally-san?"

"Yes, Relena. Come in, come in." Relena did as she was asked and knelt beside the table. A maid promptly brought an extra cup and Relena drank from it gratefully. 

"Relena, do you know who is coming to Kyoto soon?" asked Noin.

"No, who?"

"Someone very important," hinted Sally, obviously enjoying this.

"The Emperor?"

Noin laughed. "No, no. Close enough. His right-hand-man, General Yuy."

It took all of Relena's skill as a geisha not to frown, but to keep her face impassive. Inside, though, she was fuming. A soldier?! She couldn't blame Sally for not knowing, but at least Noin should be understanding of how she felt about soldiers.

"How does this affect me?" 

"Well, everyone knows what a great geisha you are, Relena. Surely you will be asked to entertain for him. This will be a very big opportunity for you, entertaining the Emperor's right-hand man," said Sally, smiling genuinely. "You should be very happy."

Relena nodded. "I am very happy, Sally-san," she lied. "I hope you will excuse me, though. I haven't yet had breakfast."

"That's fine. Go have something to eat."

Her heart in her mouth, Relena left the room. She leant against the wall of the hallway, catching her breath and controlling her emotions. _A soldier! Of all men, a soldier! Why didn't Noin say anything?_

"It was rude of you to leave so quickly," said Noin, appearing at her side as if on cue.

"And it was rude of you not to tell her," said Relena quietly. "A soldier! Noin, I thought you felt the way I do. After my brother…"

"You may not see it, Relena, but this has everything to do with your brother. If we are to leave this place and look for him, we must pay off the debt we owe Sally-san. She has already been kinder than we would've thought but she cannot afford to just let us go. For us to pay off our debts, you must take a _danna._"

A _danna. _ A patron. A man who would pay money and give lavish gifts to have her entertain him exclusively, to have her in his bed at night if he so wished. A man who would own her. The thought made Relena just a little queasy. She had already been through her _mizuage _two years ago and losing her virginity had been uncomfortable enough - could she really handle that on a nightly basis?

"I know what you're thinking," said Noin. "And I'm sorry but there's no other way. I am still married and Sally was kind enough to let me work as her assistant instead of a geisha. Hilde is still in training. That leaves you."

"Perhaps anyone else," Relena murmured. "An artist, or a politician even. But a soldier? How can I give myself to a soldier after all they've done to us?"

"I'm sorry, _imoto,_" said Noin, using the term 'little sister' for the first time in years. "But remember what I said. No other way."

{ { { 

As Relena ate her rice, her mind was a million miles away. 

'No other way,' Noin had said. And Noin was right. Even as one of the most popular geisha in Kyoto, Relena still didn't earn enough from her nightly engagements at parties to pay off the debt they owned Sally. It had cost Sally lot of money to buy, house, feed and train the three women to be geisha. Especially since she'd allowed Noin to work in other ways and Hilde was still in training. And as much as they wanted to find Milliardo, they couldn't do it at Sally's expense. It wouldn't be fair after she'd given them a way to live when they'd found poverty in Milliardo's absence.

But a soldier?

Any man but a soldier.

Not after all they'd done…

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…"By order of the Emperor! You cannot disobey an imperial decree!"

"No," Noin was crying. "You can't take him away from us. This is his home."

"Japan is all our homes," said a young soldier by the leader's side. "We must all fight to protect it."

"No!"

At this point, her brother appeared, brought by the sounds of the argument. Straightaway, he took a defensive position between Noin and the leader. He was dressed only in pants and a loose cotton shirt but Relena swore that he was far more imposing in just that than the soldiers were in their uniforms. Especially with the way his eyes narrowed at them in anger. The leader seemed to balk at this and his voice lowered a few levels. But as he and Milliardo spoke, their voices raised again until they too were arguing.

It seemed that her brother was going to have his way after all - whatever that was - when the soldier leaned down and whispered something in Milliardo's ear. Relena couldn't hear what it was from her position, but she knew, somehow, that the soldier had threatened their family if Milliardo didn't do what they said. Only such a thing could bring such fear and anger to her brother's eyes. He froze, then turned back to Noin. She was crying freely now, even more so when he kissed her and whispered something in her ear.

Slowly, like a man being led to his execution, Milliardo hung his head and followed the soldiers, taking a mount behind one of the men. Then, as quickly as they'd come, they were riding off again, her brother looking back to the house desperately.

The fear and confusion that had kept Relena hidden was thrown to the wind as they took her brother away. She didn't care why it was happening or who was responsible. All she knew was that they couldn't do it.

Ignoring Hilde's cries, she jumped up from the grass and ran down the hill towards the forest at the bottom of their land. The men would have to ride through that to reach the main road and if she were quick enough, she could catch them in time. She ran faster than she ever had before, ignoring the occasional thorn or sharp rock in her foot. It didn't matter.

But she was still not going to be fast enough. By the time she reached the road, they were already passing through. The last one to come along, though, the same young soldier who had spoken about 'Japan being all their homes' was still within reach. Without thinking, Relena hurled herself from the trees, knocking the soldier off his horse and falling down with him.

In the tangle of arms and legs that ensued, Relena didn't even notice what he was doing. The next thing she knew, he had her up against a tree, his knife against her throat. 

"What the hell did you think you were doing?" he growled out, his skin beading with sweat and his breathing heavy. Relena was momentarily startled by how young he was before her rage came crashing back over her and she struggled and cried out in his grasp.

"Stop it," he told her, even as he looked for a glimpse of his companions. But they had already ridden ahead. "Damn."

"Let me go." Relena struggled, lashing out with her knees at her captor. She smiled wickedly as she landed a decent kick to his abdomen.

"No." The young soldier only gripped her wrists more tightly in his hands. "Stop fighting me."

"Or you'll do what?" she hissed, with a venom she didn't think she had.

"I'll kill you…"

Translations:

Tatami: the straw mats covering the floors of a traditional Japanese room

Sake: Japanese rice wine. (Handle with care ^_^)

Ocha: Green tea

Danna: A patron of a geisha who specifically 'owns' her.

Mizuage: the ritual loss of a geisha in training's virginity 'performed' by a very high paying customer. It usually coincided with her full debut. (mostly outdated now)

Imoto: little sister

Okaasan: mother

Okiya: a geisha house, where the geisha live (but not where they work)

Ohayoo gozaimasu: good morning


	2. Hilde

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Author: Fallen Angel fallen_angel_2012@hotmail.com

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Rating: PG-13 for now, but may contain R material later on.

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Disclaimer: I don't own Gundam Wing and am making no money from this. Don't sue.

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Chapter 2: Hilde

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It was late at night when a single figure rose from her futon in the Po okiya and dressed. As silently as she could, she pushed a pile of laundry under her blanket and prodded it into the shape of a sleeping girl. Then, with feather light footsteps, she tiptoed past Noin and Sally's rooms, then past the maid's rooms and down the stairs. She was in the kitchen and a breath away from lifting the latch on the back door when a voice spoke.

"What are you doing?"

"Relena," Hilde whispered as loudly as she dared. "What are you doing awake? Why are you sitting in the dark?"

"I felt a little ill. I came down to get some water but didn't bother with the light since it would hurt my eyes." By the light of the half-moon, Hilde could see Relena was indeed holding a glass of water and her eyes were rimmed, her skin pale. "But this isn't about what I'm doing here. Where were you going?"

Hilde couldn't find an answer better than a meek lowering of her head and Relena sighed.

"Not again, Hilde. I thought he'd gone to Tokyo."

"He came back last week," she murmured. "And I've missed him so much. Please, Lena, don't tell."

"Hilde, don't do this. You know what Noin will say, and what Sally might do. Even her patience won't stretch this far."

"I know, I know. That's why you have to cover for me. Please?" the girl pleaded.

Relena sighed again. "Why don't you just stop seeing him? Or at least wait until you've finished your training and he can pay to see you…"

"I can't. I can't wait that long and you know he'll never have the money. And I don't want it to be that way. I don't want him to have to pay to see me. Don't you understand, Lena? I love him."

"Geisha aren't supposed to love," said Relena, the sorrow in her voice as much for herself as anyone else. 

"I'm not a geisha yet," muttered Hilde defiantly.

"If you're not careful, you never will be. No one will train you if they find out you've already been with someone. No one will pay for your _mizuage_ if you've already got a boyfriend."

"You make it sound like I've slept with him," said Hilde, a little hurt.

"I know you haven't, but that's not the point."

"Please?"

With a small nod that ended in her hanging her head, Relena relented. "Go. Just go. But don't say I didn't warn you if you get caught."

"Thank you," whispered Hilde in reply. Then she lifted the latch and disappeared into the night.

Hilde slid along the side of houses and ducked in between alleyways as she made her way along Pontocho, the street where they - and many other geisha - lived. At the end of the street, she turned left and found herself looking out upon the Kamo river, which ran behind the houses of Pontocho. But she didn't cross the bridge, instead ducking beneath it. 

"Duo," she whispered urgently. "Duo, I'm here. Where are you?"

The light of the half-moon didn't reach it's influence under the bridge and in the darkness, Hilde's excitement at seeing Duo was quickly replaced by her fear that she may be alone under here.

"Duo?" she whispered, more tentatively now.

"Hiya babe."

Hilde held back a squeal as two strong arms wrapped around her middle and lifted her off the ground effortlessly. She soon recognized the feel and voice of her boyfriend though, and relaxed into the embrace. "You startled me," she whispered over her shoulder.

"Sorry," he replied, in good Japanese. Of course, the American had been in the country for years now, so he was practically fluent. But he still insisted on calling her by weird words such as 'babe.' One day, she would have to ask just what exactly that meant. "I just wanted to surprise you."

"Well, you certainly did," she said, smacking him playfully on the shoulder as he put her down. "I've missed you."

"I've missed you too, babe," he replied, kissing her briefly. "Tokyo was an empty city without you."

"Aw, Duo, that's so sweet." She took his hands in hers. "But I hope you got enough stories for your American newspaper."

"Oh, heaps. That's one advantage to being the friend of General Yuy. You get to be right in on the action."

"So you're friends again? Last time I saw you, he was threatening to cut your hair and strangle you with it."

"Hey, that's just Heero's way of showing he likes someone. Hell, when we first met he punched my lights out - it was all a big misunderstanding, of course - and after we'd sorted it out we became best of buds." Duo said it lightly, so Hilde wouldn't get a hint that he was more than a friend to Heero…he was his spy. As a journalist and as an American he was able to get info for Heero others couldn't: he was his eyes and ears amongst the people. One, because he had a sixth sense for it and two, because it was incredible what people will say right in front of you if they think you can't understand their language. Duo had fun proving them wrong.

"Duo, you're so funny," she admonished, placing a light kiss on his nose and playing with his incredibly long braid with one hand.

Maybe it was the way she'd kissed him, maybe it was something in her voice, but Duo knew she was holding something back and said so.

"Nothing's wrong," she replied, but he knew that was a lie too.

"Hilde. C'mon. I know you. What's wrong?"

"Relena saw me sneaking out."

"Your sister? Oh no. What did she say? Will she turn you in?"

"She wouldn't. I would be in so much trouble. She just said the usual: how she was disappointed in me, how I shouldn't be doing this."

"Hilde," Duo put one finger under her chin and tipped her face up to his. He knew she couldn't see him in the darkness, but he did it anyway. "Hilde, I don't want you to risk your security by meeting me. Maybe Relena's right. Maybe you should wait until I can be your da…"

"Don't even say it!" commanded Hilde in a stern voice. "I won't have it. I've seen how things change once a girl takes a danna and even if you were him, it just wouldn't be right."

"That bad, is it?"

"I don't know from personal experience, but you should see Relena since…whoops!" Hilde clamped a hand over her mouth but it was too late.

"Since what?"

"Oh, you'll find out soon enough anyway. Sally and Noin are planning to find her a danna."

"Well, you've known that for a while."

"It gets worse," continued Hilde. "They're hoping it will be General Yuy."

Duo was caught midway between laughter and fainting from shock. "Heero? A patron? To your sister, of all people? Never. She wouldn't have it and he's…well, it's hard to explain. He's just…Heero."

"I know," Hilde said and he could tell she was nodding from the way her hair brushed against him. He breathed in deeply - she smelt vaguely like jasmine and…strawberries.

"Duo, are you okay?"

"Oh," he hadn't realised he'd been quiet for so long. "Um, yeah, I'm fine. Just thinking."

"About what?"

"About how I have a sneaky suspicion you had strawberries for desert tonight."

"Duo? How on earth did you know that?" she sounded shocked, but he could tell she was smiling. Smiling in kind, he leaned in and breathed deeply.

"Oh yeah, that's strawberries all right."

"Are you sure?" she asked. "Maybe you should check." There was a playful note to her voice and Duo grinned from ear to ear. This was just one of the reasons he loved her - her amazing ability to keep him on his toes. When he thought she'd be mad, she was forgiving. When he thought she'd be bashful, she was far from it. His mind went back to when he'd first met her, almost running her over with his bike when he swerved to avoid a cat in the road. Instead of fainting or apologising or crying like he expected a young girl would, she yelled at him, arguing so passionately that by the time she was done Duo didn't just want to apologise. He wanted to kiss the little pixie until she was blue in the face and those enticing lips of hers were silenced.

Just like he had dreamed about on that day, he leaned in now and tasted her lips.

"Yep," he murmured, even as he moved in for another kiss. "Definitely strawberries."

{ { { 

Back in the okiya, Hilde's sister was fast asleep.

She had planned on staying up until Hilde returned, just to make sure she didn't get caught returning, but sleep was beckoning loudly. Relena had decided to just rest her head on the table for a moment, closing her eyes for the briefest of seconds. But soon a second became a minute and a minute became a half-hour and she was well and truly asleep.

Though her dreams were anything but peaceful.

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…"I'll kill you."

Relena couldn't see his eyes beneath his cap, but something in the soldier's voice told her he was certainly capable of slitting her throat if he wanted to. And who would care? She was nothing but a simple country girl, after all. They had easily taken her brother, why wouldn't they take her life?

"Fine, do it," she said in false bravado. "Kill an unarmed woman."

Sure, it was low to bring up her gender and weakness, but when you're a hair's breath away from death, you tend to forget about things like that. It seemed to work too, because a moment later the soldier released her and stepped back. She didn't fight him again, though, since his knife was still in plain view, hovering between them like an angry snake that had been denied its dinner.

"You fight well," he admitted finally. "I'm sorry we had to take your brother."

"I'm sorry too," she said, but with a sarcastic edge. "I'm sorry you and your comrades are so incompetent that they cannot yet achieve peace with our enemies across the ocean."

The soldier froze but did not move. Relena couldn't tell if he was feeling angry or guilty. She hoped it was the latter.

"What would you know?" he retorted finally. 

"I know that peace is not as impossible as you say it is. I know you soldiers fight because you believe, as soldiers, that is all you are good for." She raised her head defiantly.

For a moment, the soldier stepped forward, holding his knife high. It seemed she had really angered him this time and he was still willing to use brute force on her. And she should've backed down, she should've made an apology and run. But she stepped towards him, feeling the cool point of the blade at her throat. Yet she remained calm. Something was brewing in her veins now, brewing in her mind and forming itself into words. She couldn't give a name to these new feelings yet, but she was almost praying for the soldier to argue back so she could release these pent up words. 

But he did no such thing. Instead he lowered his knife and returned to his horse. Mounting it, he rode over and looked down at her.

"You don't know what you're talking about. Because you live here in peace while we fight in the real war. If we were to accept your notions of 'peace' you would die. Be grateful I have let you live to learn this lesson."

And with that he was gone. 

Only then did Relena allow herself to cry.

{ { { 

The sun was already high in the sky when Relena awoke, surprised to find tears dried on her cheeks. Quickly she raised her head from the kitchen counter and wondered why none of the maids - who were always up at sunrise - hadn't woken her. Nor Sally or Noin for that matter. Then again, she was often awake until after midnight, attending parties in teahouses. On top of that, Relena was well-liked in the okiya and it would have been possible for the others to think she deserved a sleep in. After all, her earnings supported them all so they tended to dote on her whether she wanted it or not. 

"Did you sleep well?" asked Noin, entering the kitchen and preparing some tea.

"I did," said Relena, rubbing the sleep from her eyes. 

"Oh, and do you know where Hilde went this morning? I saw her return, but didn't see her leave."

Relena kept her face impassive. She would have to remind Hilde to be back earlier next time. "I think she mentioned something about going to the temple to pray."

"That's good," said Noin. "Perhaps you should think about spending some time in quiet prayer too: it might help you relax."

Relena nodded, accepting a cup of tea gratefully. She didn't admit that the only way she would go to pray would be if it would stop the general coming to Kyoto. Noin sensed this though, and brought him up.

"The General is arriving today. You'll be expected to entertain him at the Ichikoko teahouse tonight."

"The Ichikoko? That reminds me, I must go visit Dorothy."

Noin frowned, but said nothing, only turned to heat more tea.

"I know you don't like her," said Relena softly. "And I know to most she seems sharp-tongued and cold, but it's only because she's so strong. And she's been a good friend to me." She stared down into her tea. "I only wish I had that kind of strength."

"Oh, Relena," Noin took a seat opposite her and covered one of her hands with her own. "You are strong. Ever since we fell on hard times and had to come here to work as Geisha, you've been the strongest of all of us. You've learnt so much - how to entertain men, how to play the _shamisen_, how to dance - and all for us. Without you we would have to work in…well, I don't want to think about it!"

"But Noin, learning _shamisen_ and dance were hard. Entertaining the General will be impossible. Even worse since I need to entice him to be my danna. When I think of what soldiers did to us…they took Milliardo and not just that, but with him, our livelihood. They destroyed everything we had…"

"Relena," Noin gripped her hand tightly. "You can do this, I know it. You can hide your passion just as well as you show it and it's all about your strength. Please, be strong. There hasn't been a man yet who can resist your kind innocence. The General will be the same. Once that happens, we will be free to leave this place and find Milliardo. Can you do this, Relena?"

Noin's face was so hopeful, so trusting, that there was only one answer for Relena to give.

"Yes."

"Good girl. Now don't spend too much time with Dorothy. I want enough time to prepare you for tonight. It'll be a big night for you. I can feel it in my bones."

Relena shivered. 'So can I…' she thought. 'Unfortunately.'

Translations

Pontocho: an actual street in Kyoto which is a geisha district

Teahouse: a place where parties etc. are held and geisha entertain. Usually in traditional, tatami room style.

Shamisen: a traditional Japanese instrument

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A/N: I know it seems like, without men, the girls are totally helpless. But think about it - this is the early 1900's. Females were: they couldn't have jobs or own property, etc. I'm not being sexist, just realistic.


	3. Heero

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Author: Fallen Angel fallen_angel_2012@hotmail.com

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Rating: PG-13 for now, but may contain R material later on.

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Disclaimer: I don't own Gundam Wing and am making no money from this. Don't sue.

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Chapter 3: Heero

{ 

It was not a far walk to the Ichikoko from the Po okiya. Not that Relena would've minded a far walk - it would've given her more time to think. In fact, she was still thinking deeply when one of the maids from the okiya greeted her at the entranceway and helped her out of her _zori_. Relena was so deep in thought, in fact, she was halfway down the hall when she remembered to say thank you to the maid. The young maid only smiled demurely and moved on.

Relena cursed herself mentally for being careless. A once off rudeness was easily forgiven, but as one of the most popular geisha in Kyoto and a regular at the Ichikoko's famous parties, the last thing she wanted was to get a reputation amongst the servants as being too stuck-up to be courteous. Which, of course, she wasn't. Just out of sorts.

She didn't realise how badly, though, until she was in the hallway and realised she'd forgotten to ask where she could find Dorothy, the mistress of the Ichikoko. Luckily, though, the sounds of a shamisen could be heard from one of the smaller but well-kept rooms in the back of the house. Relena had a keen enough ear to know that whoever was playing was an expert and knew that back in her days as a geisha, Dorothy had been notorious for her musical skills. She followed the music to the room and slid the door aside.

"Relena," Dorothy paused mid-note to look up at her friend and give a half-smile. Relena knew she was privileged to receive such a genuine smile from Dorothy and returned it.

"Please don't stop on my account."

"Very well," said Dorothy, one eye on her instrument and one on Relena. "Do sit down, though. I'll have the maid bring us some tea."

"There's no need. I can't stay long. I really just dropped by to say hello."

"Oh," Dorothy looked up now, but by some amazing skill, kept playing without missing a note. Relena couldn't help but feel envious: only years of strict training had taught her how to play the shamisen while keeping a gentle expression and calm smile but she certainly couldn't look away from her instrument without dropping at least one note. But with her perfectly chiselled features and perpetual half-smile, Dorothy was as beautiful and relaxed playing a complicated piece as some women would be lying in the bath. "Just hello? Are you sure?"

"Well, actually, I came to ask you if you knew anything about General Yuy."

Dorothy returned her gaze to her instrument but the smile didn't fade. "I'm flattered you find me such a mine of information, but what makes you think I would know anything about the famous General Yuy?"

"Um, well…" Relena hesitated for a brief second. "It's just that you know so much of what's going on, not just in Kyoto, but in Japan in general."

"Like the way I know Sally Po and Lucrezia Noin plan to make General Yuy your danna?"

"I was wondering how long it would take the news to reach you." 

"Not long at all. So what did you want to know?"

"Oh, well…what do you know?"

"I've _heard,_" she said, emphasising the last word, "that he's a good man. A little cold and difficult to know, but honourable. At least, that's probably the word of his comrades and you can hardly trust that to be the truth. But you asked me what I'd heard and that's it."

"A good man?" Relena raised her eyebrows incredulously. "I can't believe that a man who has led armies to war could be anything but good."

"He fights those wars so we don't have to. All soldiers do," said Dorothy, as calmly and plainly as if she were saying the sky were blue.

"But people have died at his hands," continued Relena vehemently. "I know we don't see much effect of war here in Kyoto, but I have read the news. I know that men are dying on the battlefield and - honourable or not - General Yuy is fighting those battles."

"If he were dead, you would not be speaking of him this way. You would be calling him a war hero," said Dorothy, her shamisen long forgotten. In some way, the lack of music only made their arguing voices seem louder. "Those men fight those wars so we can one day have peace. You live a sheltered life here, though, and the beauty and symphony of war are beyond your imagining. So you are also in no position to judge."

Relena sighed. "How do I always end up having this argument with you?"

"Because, dear Relena," said Dorothy, half-smiling again, "you are naïve when it comes to how cruel the world can be. Or are you? After all, you were wary enough to ask me about your potential danna. Perhaps you know the evils men can do?"

"I…I was just curious, I suppose," said Relena. "It's just…well, let's just say I've never much liked the idea of being tied so closely to a man I barely know."

"Look on the bright side," said Dorothy encouragingly. "He's young. That may mean less experience, but…"

"Experience?"

Dorothy seemed to hold back a giggle. "Oh, Relena. You have had your _mizuage_, haven't you?" Relena nodded her ascent, blushing. "Well, then, you know that men can attain certain skills when performing…you-know-what. Now, based on your questions I doubt your mizuage patron had much interest in your needs, but it is possible for a man to do certain…things…to make the experience more enjoyable for you. Do you understand?"

Relena nodded again, still blushing. "Still, skills or not, I still find the whole thing…I don't know…unfulfilling. Like I'm still empty afterwards."

Dorothy raised a forked eyebrow. "What is it you want from this, Relena. Love?"

There was no point hiding it. "I…I would like it."

"Oh, Relena, Relena, Relena," said Dorothy ruefully, shaking her head. "How can a woman be so worldly and so sophisticated and yet so innocent and naïve?"

"I don't know, but I suppose you're going to tell me?"

"Relena, your problem is that you look at life as if you were an oak tree - steady and deeply rooted to one thing. Housewives and businessmen are like these. We are not. We are more like butterflies; our future is uncertain and possibly brief. You should look no further ahead than one day but see, in all its beauty, the happiness that one day can offer you. Women like you and I can ask for no more than this."

"So is this all we are?" asked Relena, frowning. "Playthings? Dolls? To be used and then discarded?"

"No, but once you think of yourself this way that is what you will become." She then shifted on the tatami mat so she was sitting beside Relena. "Keep your dignity, my dear Relena, and if your danna turns out to be less than promised, you will have the inner strength to endure it. And if you can do this, you will not only endure his trap, but work your way out."

"And then I'll be free?" asked Relena tentatively, thinking of what Noin had said. "Like you are?"

Suddenly, something passed over Dorothy's face and she raised a hand to put it against Relena's shoulder comfortingly. But what startled Relena more than this action - quite out of character for a 'cold' woman like Dorothy - was the look in her eyes. It seemed that they were filling with tears but that something in the cool grey-blueness of her eyes was holding them back. 

"Free, Relena?" she asked, almost bitterly. "I am not free. Perhaps no woman is. We are all trapped in some way. Some of us by hate or by poverty. Others - the more unfortunate, I think - by love."

Relena blinked, unable to make sense of this sudden vision into Dorothy's heart. But just as suddenly at the moment had happened, it was gone. Dorothy was shifting again, to pick up her shamisen, and, as if nothing had happened, began playing again.

Just as confused and thoughtful as she was when she came in, Relena rose to leave, only just remembering, at the last moment, to call out that she would see Dorothy tonight. The soft, sad notes of an ancient song of lovers separated were her only reply.

{ { { 

"Heya, buddy, how are you going?"

"You've been in Japan many years now, so why do you still insist on using such strange American terms?" asked Heero disbelievingly as he joined Duo at the bar. It was dark and practically nameless, and, since it was one o'clock in the afternoon, deserted. Perfect.

"Hey, don't change me. Love me for who I am," Duo retorted and was rewarded with a Heero-patented 'hn'. 

"So what news?" asked Heero finally.

"Well, you have mostly full support for the peace treaty," said Duo, seriously now. "At first people were doubting that you - being a general and all - could pull it off, but nearly everyone seems as eager for peace as you. The Chinese and Russians also give full support, but you knew that…"

"You said mostly."

Duo hesitated. "The thing is, there are still a lot of powerful men in this country who would rather see the war continue than have what they call a 'false peace'."

"Like who?"

"Rumours are that Lord Trieze Kushrenada would rather keep this war going."

"Trieze?" Heero raised an eyebrow slightly. It was the only real sign of his surprise. "He backed me publicly. Are you sure?"

"Close enough to it," answered Duo before drinking deeply from his beer. "Look, of course he's going to back you publicly if he's got something up his sleeve. But it makes sense. Most of his factories have been converted into warehouses and production of weapons. He would lose a lot of money and power if the war was suddenly over. Not only that, but he fought hard in the wars a few years ago and probably holds tight to the thought that the Chinese and Russians will always be our enemies."

"They will be if this treaty isn't signed," said Heero resolutely. "And we can't put it aside because one lord disagrees with it."

"Yeah, but you gotta be careful, man. Trieze isn't the kind of guy to take lightly. You know he lives in Osaka, not far from here. On top of that, the signing is in 2 weeks. Now would be the perfect time to get at you, if he wanted to, while you're relaxing."

"I'm never relaxed."

"You know what I mean," said Duo, rolling his eyes. "While you don't have an entire army around you and you're spending some time at parties and the like."

"Anything else?"

Duo thought for a moment. "I heard a whisper that he was trying to organise a marriage for his daughter, Mariemaia, but that could be completely unrelated. Still, I'll keep an ear open."

Heero nodded, his dark hair falling over his eyes. "Good work. Here." He slid an envelope over the bar and, barely looking at it, Duo took it. But as his hands clasped over it, his eyes widened in surprise.

"Heero, either you've decided to use lots of small notes or there's a lot more here than there should be."

"It's for the future," answered Heero.

"Since when did you worry about my future?"

Without looking at his friend, Heero answered. "I know about that girl…you called her Hilde."

Duo gasped. "When? How?"

"I saw you the other night. I arrived early and thought I'd catch up with you as soon as possible. I saw you sneaking out and the rest is history. Don't worry, I'm the only one who knows."

"That's good of you, Heero, but money won't help."

"Why not? Once she becomes a geisha…"

"No," Duo shook his head sadly. "We've spoken about this and I can't be her danna. It would change everything. I don't want her to love me because I've paid her to. I want it to be her choice."

"But you already care about her, and if I'm any guess, she feels the same way."

"And that's just why I can't own her," said Duo, clasping his glass tightly. The entire world seemed to be on his shoulders. Then he shook his head, and soon the old, cheerful Duo was back. "But this isn't about me, Heero. What about you? Going to find someone here in Kyoto?" 

"I hardly think so. I don't have the time."

"Aw, come on. Maybe not now, but soon. Once this treaty is signed, you'll be out of a job."

"That's what I'm worried about," answered Heero.

"Huh? But you've already got enough money and land to live like a king for the rest of your life. What's the problem?"

"You wouldn't understand. When I am a soldier, when I'm fighting, I have a purpose. Without that, I'm not sure what I can value in life."

Duo shook his head, his braid flying. "You soldiers are all the same. You fight because you believe, as soldiers, that is all you are good for."

Silence was his reply and Duo looked to his friend. "Heero? Didn't you hear me?"

But Heero was looking off into the distance, his eyes bright but unseeing. As if he were seeing far into the future or deep into the past.

"Oy, Heero. Earth to Heero." Duo clicked his fingers in front of the general's face. Heero blinked.

"Woah, Heero. Where did you go?"

"I just…" Heero frowned. "I just remembered something from a long time ago. That's all."

"Hmmm," Duo said thoughtfully. "Man, you're wound up too tight. Tonight's party should do you good."

"Maybe," said Heero, but his mind was a million miles away. In a town near Hiroshima, to be exact, with a young girl with eyes like the sky and a passion that could have melted the snow from Mount Fuji's peak.

__

I know you soldiers fight because you believe, as soldiers, that is all you are good for…

That was what she'd said. It was only now that he could see how right she'd been.

Translations

Mistress of a teahouse: Usually an ex-geisha or Okaasan who runs a teahouse. 

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By the way, thank you to all those who've reviewed so far. Your words are greatly appreciated.


	4. The Ichikoko Teahouse

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Author: Fallen Angel fallen_angel_2012@hotmail.com

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Rating: PG-13 for now, but may contain R material later on.

****

Disclaimer: I don't own Gundam Wing and am making no money from this. Don't sue.

****

Chapter 4: The Ichikoko Teahouse

{ 

"Relena, you look absolutely beautiful," said Noin.

Relena examined herself in the mirror and found it hard to disagree. Her reflection wore a yellow kimono with green grass and a river design around the bottom and a sky-blue _obi_ that set off her eyes - the entire outfit being reminiscent of the colours of a summer's day. Her hair was pulled up tightly on her head and her skin was white like a porcelain doll's. Not that she really needed the makeup: even under normal circumstances, Relena's face had been compared to a delicate artwork's - perfect, immaculate, innocent.

Which was, in a way, how she was meant to look. It didn't do anything, though, to change how she felt. Angry, betrayed, confused.

"The general will surely fall for you," said Sally happily from the hallway. 

"Thank you, Sally," murmured Relena, trying to ignore Noin's half-joyful, half-sympathetic look in the mirror. With a final nod to herself in the mirror, she followed Sally down the stairs and - with Hilde's help - put on her zori and left. She had only made it a few steps down the street when the sound of running footsteps caught up with her and Noin grabbed her arm.

"Relena, wait."

"Noin?"

"Please, I know it's hard for you. But I just…" she faltered for words. "I miss him so much and every day I'm afraid there's a letter waiting for me somewhere telling me he's dead. And that he's been dead for years and I haven't been able to find out about it because we're here and not at home." Her eyes filled with tears. "I'm just tired of not knowing, Relena, and I know you feel the same. Please…"

Relena waved a hand. "Don't say anymore, Noin. You shouldn't have to apologise. I've been acting like a spoilt brat. You're right, this isn't about me. This is about my brother. I once swore to myself I would do anything for my family and now I have the chance I'm not living up to the promise. But I will from now on. I promise."

"Oh, Relena," said Noin happily, then gave a soft gasp. "Oh, don't cry, Relena, you'll ruin your makeup." She quickly pulled a tissue from her obi and wiped the younger woman's eyes gently. "And now you'll be late, too. Now go, and good luck."

Relena nodded, smiling, then went on her way. 

When she arrived at the Ichikoko, though, it seemed her absence was barely noticed in the buzz of activity. Maids were rushing this way and that, trays of food and bottles of sake in their hands. 

"Busy tonight, eh?" asked Relena to the maid who took her shoes at the entrance.

"You have no idea," replied the maid. "I can't believe how many people booked for tonight. You're with the Winner party, aren't you? Last room down the hall."

The Winner party was bustling with activity. As she entered, Relena quickly counted half-a-dozen or so geisha and at least seven men. A few of them she recognised from previous parties, but they weren't her main interest. The General, as guest of honour, would be at the head of the room, but he was currently hidden from her view by the maid serving him some dinner.

'Oh well,' Relena thought, taking up a position next to one of the men. 'There's heaps of time still. I'll reach him later.'

The thing was, as much as she would've liked to just go over and sit next to the general, another geisha was already there. That didn't matter so much, though, since the geisha rotated from guest to guest during the course of the night so that everyone had the benefit of their company at least once and they didn't seem to be monopolizing any particular guest.

"Good evening, Relena," said the man beside her and for the first time, Relena noticed who she'd taken a seat next to.

"Quatre!" she smiled at one of her few very close friends, Quatre Raberba Winner. Otherwise known as the president of one of the biggest electrical companies in Japan. "I knew your company was hosting the party, but I wasn't sure you'd be here."

"Of course," he replied, blue eyes sparkling. "I didn't want to miss the opportunity to meet with the General, especially with the peace treaty approaching."

"Peace treaty?" 

"Oh, haven't you heard? The General has organised a peace treaty with China and Russia, to be signed in Tokyo in a few weeks. Hopefully, it will bring an end to these wars."

Relena couldn't believe her ears. "And this was the General's idea?"

"Yes. He is a bit of a revolutionary, actually, which was why I was so interested in meeting him."

Sensing she'd hit the jackpot, Relena innocently kept the conversation going. Through Quatre she learnt much about General Yuy. It turned out he'd been a soldier since he was very young; an orphan, he'd had little choice but to join the army to survive. He was skilled, though, and a fast learner. Soon he was working his way up the ranks and, when his commander died two years ago in the wars, Heero took his place. Not long after that, his courageous efforts in battle and dedication to bringing his men back alive brought him to the Emperor's attention. Then the rest went from there.

After that, Relena made a bit more small talk with Quatre before it was time for her to move on. The party was in full swing now and - besides Quatre, who never drank - everyone was drinking heartily and the mood was merry. Relena was still unable to reach the General, though, and was forced to take a seat beside a man who only wanted her to pour him more sake. It was tiring talking away when he barely responded and she was quite glad when it came time for her to move to another part of the table. This time, she was lucky again in sitting beside someone she knew.

"Trowa Barton," she exclaimed, upon seeing the Kabuki actor and dancer. "I see Quatre invited you again."

"He knows I'm not big on these things," said the lanky Trowa in his typical monotone. "But he also knows I'd feel left out if not invited once in a while. He's a good friend that way, kinder than I."

"Oh, Trowa, you're kind too. And a good friend," Relena reassured him. "I'm looking forward to our performance in the Kamogawa dances this year. I especially enjoyed reading the piece your sister has prepared. It seems quite dramatic."

"Where Catherine is concerned, it's always something dramatic," said Trowa, mock-annoyed. Both he and Relena knew, though, that Cathy was an excellent dance coordinator and had done a brilliant job organising and choreographing the dances each spring, only a few weeks away. Trowa and Relena, along with many other geisha and actors, performed each year for the tourists and connoisseurs. 

They then spoke for a long time about the dances and various other aspects of the arts. Relena was glad to be talking with someone who not only appreciated how difficult the dances could be, but how much work went into it.

Time passed, and Relena glanced about the party carefully. Most people were drinking quite a bit now, even the geisha, and Relena couldn't help biting her bottom lip with worry. If the General became too drunk, it might make it harder for her to attract his attention. But he seemed to be holding his liquor well, downing just as many glasses as everyone else but remaining sober. 

Still, when time came for some of the geisha to move around the table - albeit, some with a bit of help needed - Relena quickly slid into the gap beside the General and held her breath in anticipation. She hadn't even had a good chance to see him before now and though she could tell he was young - about the same age as Quatre and Trowa - she hadn't seen his face before, only occasional glances of strong features beneath messy brown hair.

"More sake, General?" she asked as a way of greeting, sure that if she didn't say something he would never look her way. He seemed so lost in though, his eyes on the party-goers, but his thoughts somewhere else. A battlefield? Relena wondered. It was highly possible.

When she spoke, though, he turned to her and all thoughts of battlefields and sake and anything else for that matter were banished from her mind. And all at the sight of his eyes. Midnight blue, they seemed truly bottomless, like a deep sea or the vastness of the night sky. Despite her many layers of clothing, Relena felt naked under his stare.

"Fine," was all he answered and it took a moment for Relena to remember her question. Then she pulled herself together and did as he asked, watching him as she did. She watched as he lifted the small glass to his lips - lips that seemed so soft, but were perpetually pressed together in a tight line of worry - and swallowed. Even the simple motions of his throat as he consumed the warm liquid was enough to make her gasp silently: it was so hypnotic…

'Oh, for heaven's sake, Relena' she admonished herself. 'You're acting like you're fifteen again. You're meant to be the seducer here, not the other way around. And you certainly can't do it if you can't even manage to talk to the guy without passing out.'

"Are you enjoying Kyoto, General?" she asked. 'Good work,' she told herself. 'Start with something simple.'

"I am," he answered finally. "It's smaller than most cities - quaint in a way."

Relena smiled. "That's an unusual compliment, but I'll take it anyway…" her voice trailed off as she noticed the General watching her very intently, his blue eyes seeming to examine her soul as well as her face. Under his stare, Relena couldn't help but blush and turn away.

"I'm sorry," said Heero when he noticed her sudden awkwardness. It wasn't exactly what he'd expected from a geisha, but somehow he found it more enticing than flirting would have been. "It's just…you seem very familiar to me. Where do you come from…I don't even know your name."

"I'm Relena. And I was born here in Kyoto," she lied. Every geisha would give that answer though. It was part of the job. A man who travels to France and goes to a French gallery to admire a painting of French countryside doesn't want to hear that the artist was born in New York. It was the same rule with geisha: keep up the stereotype, since no one wants to hear otherwise.

"Oh," said Heero, a little disappointed. He was so sure she was the girl. But was that just wishful thinking? "Never mind, then. You can't be who I thought you were."

"I hope you don't want someone else now, instead?" asked Relena playfully, as her confidence was growing. 

"No," Heero said quickly, surprising both of them. "I mean, I enjoy your company anyway."

"Thank you," she replied. "I'm enjoying your company too." 

Heero nodded and was silent for a while. When he spoke again, his voice was thoughtful. "You're not like the others, you know."

"The others?"

"The other geishas. They've spent most of tonight trying to make me laugh more or talk more. You're the first person to be content with me as I am."

Relena was so surprised by his confession her next words were out of her mouth before she could stop them. "I like you as you are."

There was silence while Heero stared at her again. This time, Relena couldn't help but stare back, wondering what he was thinking. He intrigued her so much, this young General. There was something about him she couldn't quite put her finger on. He dressed and carried himself like any other soldier, but deep beneath the surface, he seemed like a wild animal. Tense, alert…waiting. What it was he was waiting for, Relena couldn't be sure, but she knew that each time he stared into her eyes it was like he was searching for this thing inside her. Almost as if he were challenging her to prove herself worthy…

'Worthy of what, Heero Yuy? What is it you're looking for?' she mused.

"Do you want to go for a walk?" Heero asked suddenly and Relena was broken out of her reverie. The party did seem to be dying down, with a few tipsy men already making their way out, propped up by slightly-less tipsy geisha. Trowa and Quatre - the last of the sober ones - were deep in conversation. No one would notice if they left.

"I'd love to."

{ { { 

It was a cool night as Sally stepped out of the okiya and into the tiny street which was Pontocho. The air was fresh and the whole area was lit by the light of the moon so Sally was almost grateful that she'd woken up with a craving for ramen and hadn't had the energy to make up a batch herself. And why bother, when the best ramen in the world could be found at a small booth not far from her house?

She noted, as she left, that Relena wasn't home yet and pondered how the young girl's night was going. At first she'd hesitated at even considering a danna for Relena, much less the General. After all, Relena had to hold some resentment towards soldiers and even though - from her inquiries - the General was honourable and in his own way, kind, he should be no exception. 

But when Sally thought back on her own life as a geisha she knew she was doing the right thing. Like Relena, Sally had become a geisha because she had no other choice. Her family in China was dead, killed in the wars when she was only 7. She was then taken to Kyoto by a Japanese soldier who found her and - knowing she would die without care - smuggled her to his home country, teaching her his language and culture and becoming the next best thing to a father. When he died prematurely, though, she was again on her own and again on the streets. Luck, or possibly fate, had her stumbling into a geisha house and finding an Okaasan who would take a chance on a homeless 10 year old girl.

Unfortunately, she knew in her heart she was destined for more than the shamisen and teahouse parties. With this hope for a greater life, maybe a chance to return to her homeland, she had worked harder than ever as a geisha not only to attract a danna, but to pay off her debts and earn her freedom.

So, at the amazingly young age of 19, Sally found herself free of her obligations to her Okaasan and with enough money to return to China. It was then, though, that she discovered that Kyoto was all she'd ever known, and China was just dim memories she could barely recall, except in dreams. With a sense of resignation, she bought a small okiya and attempted to carve out a new dream.

Relena was so like herself in many ways. Pre-destined for something better than being a rich man's plaything. But unlike Sally, Relena had a home to go to somewhere. She had family she could be with - if her brother was still alive - if she and Noin and Hilde left. If she could earn her freedom, and Sally knew she could, she would have a good chance of living a normal life. Meeting a man in the normal way and even getting married someday.

Sally wiped a stray tear from her eye as she walked. Surprised, she held the glimmering drop up to the light. She had thought that she was all cried out over her family and her homeland and all the opportunities she would never have. She had thought herself convinced that growing old and dying in Kyoto - even alone - was not necessarily a fate worse than death. And maybe she was.

Until she remembered her dream.

Suddenly, a noise from beside one of the houses caught her attention.

"Hello?" called Sally, but there was no reply.

'A cat,' she thought to herself. After all, she'd never been given reason to think anything sinister lurked in Pontocho. Not yet, anyway.

Curious, but a little nervous, Sally lifted up the hem of her kimono slightly and slipped down the alleyway beside the house. She had only made it a few steps when she heard the noise again, a type of half-moan, half-gasp. This time there was no doubt about it - it was a person. 

"Hello?" she called again. This time she caught a glimpse of eyes staring at her from the darkness up ahead. They looked so desperate, so in pain, Sally couldn't help but move forward. "Hello? Who are you? You can come out. I won't hurt you."

Suddenly, there was another moan, and a figure stumbled out from the darkness, into the tiny band of light from the windows of the house. Sally held back a cry as she saw what it was.

It was a young man - Chinese, if she was any guess - with ink black hair pulled into a ponytail and coal black eyes. He was staring at her like some kind of wild animal cornered. More surprising than this, though, was his posture and build. While he seemed like he was usually a strong man, he now looked weak from any number of things - lack of food, exhaustion. He still had enough strength to prop himself up against the wall, keeping a tight grip on his weapon. It reminded Sally of a katana, only not quite.

Despite his threatening stare and the weapon, though, Sally reached out a hand. "I won't hurt you. But you need help."

The young man scowled at her. "Trust…" he managed to mumble in accented Japanese. 

"Trust…? You mean, how do you know you can trust me?" asked Sally. "You don't, I guess. I suppose the fact that I'm Chinese means nothing to you."

He frowned, and Sally frantically searched her memory for words of her native language. Finally, all she could come up with was, "Wan shang hao."

The man's eyes widened with disbelief and the trace of amusement. A split second before they closed and he collapsed at her feet.

Translations:

Kabuki: a type of Japanese theatre

Kamogawa dances: actually dances that are held in Autumn and Spring in Kyoto.

Ramen: a type of Japanese dish made with noodles, etc.

Obi: the large band of silk that goes around the middle of the kimono and is tied elaborately at the back 

Zori: the wooden shoes Geisha wear (again, wear with care)

Wan shang hao: good evening in Mandarin (I'm not sure if Wufei/Sally would speak Mandarin or Cantonese, so I took a guess)

****

A/N: This war between China, Russia and Japan is made up by me and no offence is meant to anyone. I mean, it's not like I've made right and wrong sides anyway.


	5. The Kamo River

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Author: Fallen Angel fallen_angel_2012@hotmail.com

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Rating: PG-13 for now, but may contain R material later on.

****

Disclaimer: I don't own Gundam Wing and am making no money from this. Don't sue.

****

Chapter 5: The Kamo River

{ 

Relena and Heero walked along in companionable silence. Occasionally she would point out famous places around Pontocho and along the Kamo River and Heero would nod in reply. She knew he heard her, but she was also suspicious that his mind was elsewhere and as they reached the bridge, she asked him.

"I'm just wondering if I'm doing the right thing," he murmured, almost to himself.

"What do you mean?"

"This peace treaty…you've heard? Good. Well, I'm not sure if this is how it's meant to happen." He sighed, his broad shoulders slumping. "All during the war, I expected the victor would be the side to win the most battles. I never thought that this could end with a piece of paper and a set of signatures. I never thought it would end with me."

Relena placed a comforting hand on Heero's arm and was glad that he didn't object. "Perhaps," she suggested, "this is your idea, and your initiative. But maybe it's the people's wish acting through you. A peace treaty could only come about if people were tired of war and tired of fighting. Maybe if you didn't suggest it, someone else would."

Heero turned to her, his brow furrowed. "Peace is a nice ideal, Relena, but can it really be achieved? Say this treaty is signed, and we do reach a settlement with our enemies…will that really do anything to stop future wars and future enemies? Who's to say that if I stop being a soldier, my sons and their sons won't have to fight their own wars?"

"No one can," Relena said softly. "But you have to try. Peace may not be achieved through a treaty but it _definitely _won't be achieved if we don't try."

There was a moment when Heero's eyes seemed to brighten, just a little, at the prospect of her words. But just as suddenly, he turned away from her, the moment passed and that same heaviness was in his expression. Beneath all that, though, Relena could see how handsome he was and was curious to see how he would look with a smile. But then she would be just like the other geisha - trying to cheer him up to make him something he wasn't. Heero was after the truth, not pretty words and empty promises.

"So," he went on, watching the river run beneath the bridge, "what happens to us soldiers after that?"

Relena shrugged. "I honestly don't know. I wish I could tell you there was a place for everyone in the world no matter what they were. Is there anyone you can go home to?"

He shook his head. "No one. I never knew my parents and the only time I've ever been part of something was when I was part of a regiment. And even then, I never got attached to my fellow soldiers. I couldn't afford to…not when I couldn't know who would live through the next few days."

"That's so lonely."

He turned to her then, and watched her for a moment. Under his intense gaze, Relena wanted to turn away, but she couldn't. It was like he had trapped her with his eyes. "You know," he said quietly, "your eyes are really blue in this light."

Relena couldn't hide the blush that crept into her cheeks. She only hoped it wasn't too visible under her makeup. "Thank you." 

He didn't look away, though, and Relena spoke to break the tension in the air. "I want to tell you a story," she said, turning back to the river. "It's an old Japanese folk tale." He said nothing so she went on. "Once upon a time, after the last survivors of the Genji and Heike wars had fled, there was a beautiful young girl who lived in Shikoku. Every day she would draw water from the well and do the housework. One day she forgot to draw the water and so had to do it at night. When she went out to the well, it was a fine night, and the moon was full in the sky.

"She bent over the water and there, below the surface, was a face looking up at her. At first she was scared, since she thought it was a ghost. But then she forgot her fear, because the face was so handsome and looked at her with such longing. This, she thought, had to be the ghost of a warrior long dead and she gazed at him all night long.

"She fell in love with the ghost, and went out whenever the moon was full. She would spend the entire night looking into the well, gazing at her handsome lover, who stared up at her. This went on for a while and she became thinner and thinner, pining away for her love she could never have. Finally, after some time sick in bed, she died and her ashes were buried in the temple graveyard. People forgot about her and moved on.

"One day, though, many years later, something was the matter with the well and they had to empty it. They took out all the water and went down to fix it. What do you think they found at the bottom?"

Heero, who had been listening intently throughout the story, said, "I don't know. The armour of the warrior, I suppose."

"No," she replied. "They found a mirror."

Heero frowned. "What's the moral of the story? I suppose the obvious one is that we can be overly vain at times, since she fell in love with her own image, distorted by the water. But that's not why you told me the story."

"No, it isn't. When I first heard the story, I thought of that reason too, but then I realised how much it reminded me of myself." She bit her lip and bowed her head. "So many times I've fallen in love with - or dreamed of - something that wasn't really there. Or was just an illusion I was believing to be real."

"Is this to do with a man?" asked Heero, surprised by the tiny pang of jealously the thought of her loving another sprung in him.

"In a way. My brother. He went to war a long time ago, and only now I'm beginning to fear that I'm waiting for him to come home in vain. Maybe he has already left this world and maybe my dream is only that - a dream. And that reminded me of you," she told him. "And peace. You've convinced yourself that all you can be is a soldier, and so you only see yourself as one. But it's an illusion, and it's making you miss the bigger picture."

"Which is?"

She turned to him now and found herself somehow closer to him than she'd been when she started the story. Had she moved, or did he? Did it even matter, when the warmth of his body seemed to be penetrating every layer of her kimono, touching the bare skin beneath? 

"Before tonight I was afraid of coming here. I hate war, and I hate soldiers because they represent war and the reason my brother isn't here and my sister-in-law is without her husband. And then I met you."

"You hate soldiers?" he asked, a little worriedly.

"I did. I still do. But the bigger picture is that even though you're a soldier, and a General, and all those other things, beneath all that you are something more, something greater than that, something that will still exist even when this war is nothing but a memory."

Heero's heart was beating faster and his mouth was dry. "Yes?"

She turned her face up to his and smiled, the light in her eyes brighter than that of the billion stars above.

"You're Heero."

Then, like the moon passing out from behind a cloud, Heero blessed her with a smile.

And after all her years surrounded by lavish kimonos and the very finest the arts had to offer, Relena was sure she'd never seen anything so beautiful.

{ { { 

Wufei awoke to the warmth of a room.

How long had it been since he'd known that, he wondered. Too long. The journey from China was difficult, the journey through Japan even harder, skulking through alleyways and resting whenever he could. Which wasn't very often.

It was foolish, he knew, to have let himself get so worn out. Anything could've happened while he was passed out. And it seemed it had. Though not in the way he would have expected. He wasn't dead - far from it. Unless this warm room and comfortable futon were part of heaven. And if so, was that woman an angel?

That woman! Startled, Wufei turned his head to see if she was still around. Perhaps she had been the one to help him.

His theory was confirmed when he saw her, kneeling by the lamp a few feet away, a small bowl of some sort in her hands.

"Woman…" he murmured and she turned to him, smiling.

"Oh, good, you're awake. I promised myself if you weren't awake by tomorrow, I would have to call a doctor. And I wasn't sure if you wanted that."

"I don't," he said, surprised at how croaky his voice was. How long had it been since he'd spoken to another human being? Again, too long.

Sensing his confusion, the woman moved over to him and said, "You were exhausted, probably undernourished and dehydrated. I managed to carry you back here and was planning to feed you, but you looked too tired, so I let you sleep. You're in my bedroom," she added, a little nervously. "Do you have a name?"

Wufei hesitated. 

"I could have turned you into the authorities if I wanted to," said the woman. "But I didn't. Can't you even trust me with a name?"

"Wufei," he answered finally. "My name is Chang Wufei."

"Chang Wufei," said the woman, rolling it over her tongue. "My name is Sally. Po Sally."

"Po? That's a Chinese name."

Sally tilted her head to one side. "I guess you don't remember me telling you I was Chinese. I'm afraid I don't speak much Mandarin anymore."

The way she said 'anymore' and the sudden sadness in her eyes prompted Wufei not to pry any further. He didn't think she wanted to dig up any old memories. It was written in her eyes.

Which was one of the reasons he found himself trusting her. Every emotion, every tiny worry and hope seemed to shine so brightly in her eyes it was as if she was saying more with them than with words. No, this was not a woman who hid things easily, thought Wufei. Not that he would trust her straightaway either: there was too much at stake.

The silence between them dragged on for a little until Sally gasped. "Oh, I'm so sorry. You must be starving. Here." She brought the small bowl across and Wufei could smell the enticing scent of noodle soup. When he went to sit up, though, he found to his horror that he was unable to do so.

But Sally made nothing of it. As naturally as if she'd been doing it her entire life, she simply lifted his head with one arm and - with his torso half resting on her lap - held the bowl to his lips. 

Wufei couldn't deny that being hand fed like a baby was humiliating, but at the same time, if he ever hoped to get strong again, he would need to eat. Plus, the soup was just too tasty to refuse.

When he had drunk it all - noodles included - Sally lowered him to the bed again.

"Thank you, woman," mumbled Wufei awkwardly.

Sally shook her head to herself as she turned to put the bowl away. "My name is Sally."

But there was no reply and when she turned around, Wufei's eyes were closed and he was fast asleep.

Sleeping, his expression was far more peaceful than that of the abrasive young man he was when awake. Sally had to admit to herself that, even with his noticeable weight loss, he was a handsome man with striking features and the most intense eyes she'd ever seen. She smiled to herself - who would've thought that when she left for the night she'd be returning with a young Chinese man over one shoulder?

__

And I was complaining that my life was mundane…

{ { { 

The light streamed into the window and Sally awoke to not one shock, but two.

First of all, she wasn't in her own bed. She was in the one of the empty guest rooms next to it. Which was okay, when she remembered that Wufei was asleep in her own room. Or at least, it was okay, until she had the second shock of remembering that Noin came into her room every morning to make the beds.

On cue, there was the sound of a woman's cry from the room next door. Scrambling from the blankets, Sally was just in time to catch Noin fleeing the bedroom, her eyes wide with fright and the fresh blankets clutched tightly to her chest.

"Noin…"

"Sally!" the young woman hissed. "There's a man in your room…"

"I know that."

"…asleep in your bed!"

"I know that too." 

Noin's eyes widened even further. She did, however, manage to keep her voice down, aware that having the entire house involved in this was not such a good idea. "Sally, how can you be so calm? There. Is. A. Strange. Man. In. Your. Bed." She said, annunciating each word as if Sally might not be completely understanding her.

"We've established that," said Sally, rubbing wearily at her eyes. She was not, after all, a morning person.

"But Sally…I mean…did you have to bring him here? What will the maids think? What will the neighbours think? "

Sally sighed wearily. "Noin, I didn't sleep with him. I was just giving help to someone in need. Besides, I'm my own woman now, so I really don't care. "

"Sally, if you wanted to prove your independence, you didn't need to go bringing strange men home."

"He's not strange," insisted Sally. "His name is Wufei."

The blankets fell to the floor as Noin stared in shock. "He's Chinese?! Oh, Sally, he could be a spy! An assassin! He could be planning to kill us in our sleep!"

"I highly doubt it," said Sally, still calm, but desperately in need of a good cup of tea. "He's still suffering from exhaustion." She then proceeded to tell the other woman about how she'd met Wufei.

When she was done, though, Noin still looked doubtful. "How much strength does it take to slit a person's throat anyway…" she blinked in remembrance. "Was that a sword I saw next to his bed?"

"I think it's a katana."

"Oh, Gods."

"Noin, you're overreacting. He's sick. I'm taking care of him. He's not planning to kill us." She paused, thinking. "I…I trust him."

"Oh, yeah?" Noin raised an eyebrow. "What did he do to earn this trust? Because you realise we could be harbouring a criminal here."

"Well, nothing really," confessed Sally. "But I just know I can trust him, ok? Please don't tell the others."

Noin stared, then sighed in resignation. "Fine. But dear Gods, Sally, if you're meant to be the sensible one around here, I hate to think what the rest of us have got hidden in our rooms…" she gathered up the blankets and began to walk away, muttering, "…next thing you know, Hilde will bring home an American, or something."

****

A/N: That Japanese folk tale is an actual story, just in case you were thinking 'wow, she made that up?' or more likely, 'what on earth was she on when she did?'


	6. Dorothy

****

Author: Fallen Angel fallen_angel_2012@hotmail.com

****

Rating: PG-13 for now, but may contain R material later on.

****

Disclaimer: I don't own Gundam Wing and am making no money from this. Don't sue.

****

Chapter 6: Dorothy

{ 

"Well, Mr Quatre. I didn't expect to see you so early after last night's activities. And especially with your work."

Quatre smiled at Dorothy as he entered the room. "I wasn't as drunk as you may think, Miss Dorothy. As for work…well, they know I don't have many hobbies, so they allow me this little one."

"A hobby?" Dorothy raised one eyebrow as she poured Quatre a cup of tea. "Mr Quatre, classical music isn't just a hobby. It's a discipline and one I hope you're taking seriously. Otherwise I'm wasting my time teaching you."

Her tone was strict, but the sparkle in her eye told Quatre she was just joking with him, as she often did. And he was glad of it. As Quatre 'Richest-man-this-side-of-the-Pacific' Raberba Winner, it was hard to find people who would even disagree with him, much less tell him off. But not Dorothy. Ever since their purely business relationship became friendship, she had made it her personal duty to keep his feet firmly planted on the ground. Along with Trowa, she was one of his best friends.

"Oh, Dorothy," he said mournfully, sipping his tea. "You've found me out. Now you know my deep, dark secret."

"Which is?"

"I'm only doing this to see you."

Dorothy smiled coolly. "Good, because I'm only teaching you for the money." She laughed and Quatre joined her, knowing she barely even cared about the money now. The music was a shared passion which she would have taught him for free if he would let her.

"So," she said, once the tea was finished. "Shall we begin?"

Quatre nodded and pulled out his shamisen as she did the same. Dorothy began playing a piece and, when he was ready, Quatre joined in. The notes lilted and dipped, floating into the air so clearly it was almost as if one could reach out and grasp the music itself. Of course, Quatre knew it wasn't his playing which made it so. It was Dorothy's. She had the gift of making music almost tangible.

"Well," Dorothy said softly when they'd finished. "You've improved. Have you been practicing?"

"A little," Quatre answered, blushing. "I'm not nearly as good as you are, though. That was so moving, the way you played that."

"One has to have a certain sense of sadness to do such a thing, Mister Winner. I don't know if you will ever be able to attain that."

"I'm not so sure," said Quatre, frowning slightly. "Everyone feels sadness. If you do, Miss Dorothy, I hope you would feel comfortable enough with me to share it."

Dorothy smiled sadly. 'I would, if you could ever understand,' she told herself. But out loud, she said, "I must admit you've improved, but there's still a slight issue with your fingering. It may sound fine but appearance is just as important. It has to _look_ right."

Quatre shifted his fingers on the neck of the instrument. "Like this?"

"Not exactly." She moved around the table between them and sat beside him. With one hand on his shoulder to correct his posture, she used the other to correct his grip. "Like this."

"Oh," Quatre replied, his voice soft and almost breathy. And it didn't take him long to realise it was all because of Dorothy. It wasn't every day that she touched him or got close to him, so when she did, it was like every nerve in his body was aware of her touch. And the awareness wasn't exactly a displeasing one, either. The way her slender fingers rested on the shoulder of his suit, or the way her breath tickled his ear made him shiver. 'But this is _Dorothy_,' his mind told him. 'You can't react this way to her.'

His body wasn't listening.

Desperate for reassurance he wasn't the only one feeling this way, he turned to her. Her eyes, usually so clear and focused they were almost penetrating, were now blurred and soft. Her lips, full and red, were opened slightly, as if she were a little short of breath. 

"Dorothy?" he asked tentatively. He found himself drawn to those parted lips but he needed to know if it was okay. He needed her to tell him what that little voice in his head was crying. That this was wrong, and he should stop.

She said nothing, and his lips moved closer and closer, grazing hers just slightly when…

She pulled away.

"I think that's all for today's lesson, Mister Winner," she said, still sounding out of breath. "You've improved immensely."

"Dorothy…"

"_Miss_ Dorothy," she corrected him, her eyes suddenly bright with something like anger.

"Miss Dorothy, I have to tell you something."

"Mister Winner, I don't think there's anything left for you to say," she insisted, standing up and smoothing down her kimono. He stood up too. "Now, I must ask…"

"Dorothy, I'm getting married."

Her back was turned to him, but the way she stiffened at his words was enough for him to know she'd heard him. When she didn't turn around, he went on.

"It wasn't exactly my choice. I'm indebted to her father, you see, and he asked and since I'm single and not seeing anyone, I couldn't find a suitable reason to refuse…"

Dorothy heard each and every one of his words like they were icepicks stabbing into her brain. 'Married?' she thought to herself. 'But you _were_ seeing someone. You were seeing me.'

But she knew that wasn't the truth. Perhaps Relena's naïveté was rubbing off on her and she was beginning to believe that there could ever be something permanent between an ex-geisha and a millionaire. The only thing she could console herself with was the thought that at least he hadn't just used her for physical pleasure then thrown her away.

Or maybe that would have been better. That she could understand. Cruelty she understood. But Quatre's unbelievable kindness was a mystery to her. As was the friendship he offered her unconditionally. The friendship which became something more.

Well, Dorothy had hoped it would move to something more. As much as she teased Quatre, the truth was that she admired him and felt something for him she thought she could never feel for anyone ever again. Not after last time.

But Quatre, innocently and unknowingly, had worked his way under her barriers and into what was left of her heart. And now, just as unknowingly, he was going to take what was left with him.

"…she's still young…16, I think," he was saying, "but Mariemaia is smart for her age. And generous. She would make a good wife…"

Dorothy still wasn't speaking, wasn't looking at him, and it was beginning to make him nervous.

"Dorothy, please say something. You're such a good friend. I want to know what you think."

"Perhaps you're asking the wrong person," she said bitterly, still not facing him. "I'm no expert on love. I guess I should ask how you feel about her…" 

She gasped as she was suddenly gripped by the arm and spun around. At first, her instinct was to cry out and demand he let go of her. Any other man would have gotten the same treatment. But Quatre's expression was so determined, she couldn't have turned away if she wanted to.

"I will never care for her the way I care for you," he told her between gritted teeth. "Is that what you wanted to hear? Now tell me you don't feel the same way." His presence was closing in on her, his eyes looking through her. "Don't hide from your feelings, Dorothy. Please, for both our sakes…say it before it's too late."

Dorothy shook her head. No, she couldn't do this. The words were there, lodged in her throat, threatening to break free. But he didn't understand…It was already too late. He had already looked elsewhere, tried to test her feelings for him. And maybe any other woman would have accepted the test and declared her love before he found another.

But not her. Beneath the layer of ice was a heart battered and bruised. She couldn't settle for a love she needed to prove, couldn't put it all on the line without a promise: not with Quatre and not with anyone. Her heart simply couldn't handle it.

"It seems, Mister Winner, I'm not the only one to hide from my feelings," she raised her eyes to his and was almost pleased by the way her cold glare startled him. "I've been saying how I feel for a long time now, only you were as afraid of it as I was. You did not act and now the decision has been made for you."

"Dorothy, you don't know how much I would give up to love you. If only you'll tell me you feel the same way." His eyes were wide now, desperate and almost fearful. "I can call off the marriage in a second if…" 

"Goodbye, Mister Winner," she said, shaking her arm out of his grasp, knowing with a heavy heart that he would never know just how difficult that one little motion had been.

"Dorothy…" he reached out for her, but she was already stepping away. Her tense posture dared him to try again.

"I think it's time you left, Mister Winner," she said, glad her voice sounded firmer than she felt.

Finally, Quatre sighed and stepped back. His eyes were filled with sadness and when he spoke, there was a slight hitch in his voice she'd never heard before. "How sad," he whispered. "A woman who can't cry."

A tiny gasp of shock and hurt escaped Dorothy's lips before she could stop it. "Leave. Now," she repeated. "I won't ask again."

With a quiet nod of defeat and regret, Quatre walked out. "I'm sorry for my rudeness, Miss Dorothy. It won't happen again."

When he had gone, Dorothy fell to her knees and held her head in her hands. "No," she whispered wretchedly. "Never again."

{ { { 

The sun was bright on Relena's face as she awoke and for the first time in many years, she didn't dread the day ahead of her, nor regret the night before.

It was crazy, and strange, and impossible, but the truth was obvious and Relena smiled as she thought of it.

__

I'm falling in love with Heero.

She couldn't wait to see him again. And it seemed he wasn't completely against seeing her again either. After their walk last night, he had taken her card. He hadn't promised to call for her again, but he didn't need to. He spoke so little, but Relena was beginning to believe she could see the meaning behind his words. Actions spoke louder than words, anyway, when it came to a man like Heero and simply by taking her number, he had said more than a hundred words could.

"Glad to see someone had a good night."

Hilde smiled as she entered the room and Relena sat up, startled.

"Am I really that obvious?"

"Depends. Are we talking about your blush, or the blissful smile plastered across your face?" teased Hilde.

Relena turned away, slid out of bed and then changed from her sleeping robe to a decent day robe. When she was done, she turned around to find Hilde still standing there.

"Is something wrong?" Relena asked.

"So?"

"So what?"

"Aren't you going to tell me about last night?"

Relena fought down another blush. "There's nothing to tell."

"Sure," Hilde said, but she didn't leave the room. Finally, Relena couldn't help herself.

"What do you want to know?"

"Anything," gasped Hilde, sliding the door shut behind her. "Is he handsome?"

Relena paused, thinking. No one could deny Heero was a handsome young man, and in a position to make any geisha happy. But there was so much more to him than that, and trying to describe that to someone else was a going to be a lot harder than Relena thought. Especially when she didn't completely understand him herself. He was everything from cold, confident, abrasive to dignified and honourable and, something which lured Relena more than anything else, uncertain and just a little lost. And that was only the beginning.

Still, Hilde was waiting and she had to begin somewhere.

"Well, he has these eyes…"

{ { { 

"Woman."

Sally bristled as she put down the tray she was carrying. 

"Wufei, my name is Sally. Can you say that? Sal-ly."

The young man scowled as he smoothed his hair down and retied it into a ponytail. When he was done, he sat up.

"Well," said Sally as he did. "At least you're a little stronger now. But I don't want you leaving here until you've at least gained a bit more weight. Then I can be sure you'll be able to take care of yourself."

"I'm perfectly capable of taking care of myself at the moment, woman," he muttered.

"Oh yeah? Then get out of bed, if you think you can."

Wufei scowled again: she had him there. Since last night he'd regained enough strength to sit up, but as far as he knew, walking or standing was probably still beyond him.

"Fine, you win. I will stay until I'm recovered…" he paused for a moment, then in a softer tone, added, "…that is, if you want me to."

Sally smiled and answered straightaway. "Of course. I wouldn't have brought you here if I planned on kicking you out after one night. That's a waste of my time and energy. So yes, you will stay until you are well."

A frown crossed Wufei's face as her words sunk in. What on earth was she thinking? She knew who he was and whether or not she was Chinese, she must have recognised that having him here was putting herself in danger. Not from him, but from those who would consider him an enemy.

Perhaps she wanted something else. Wufei had heard a little about geisha during his time in Kyoto and figured that this woman had to be one - she was certainly beautiful enough. Her features were classically beautiful - like a well sculpted work of art - and her lips…they were so red, even without makeup.

Maybe if this woman was a geisha, she wanted money from him. Maybe for certain…privileges she would allow him when he was well. Had Wufei been a less scrupulous man, he might have been tempted, but he had honour and certainly no time for such things anyway. Best to tell her now.

"I know what the women are like in this area," said Wufei firmly. "And I don't have any money to pay you for anything you have to offer me."

Sally looked up at him with a brief look of shock, and then disappointment. "Oh," she said softly and Wufei cursed himself for being so tactless, for causing her pain. She had offered him kindness beyond expectations and here he was, calling her nothing but a rich man's bedmate. 

"I'm…" he began, but couldn't say it. His pride was too great.

"That's ok," said Sally, bringing the tray of food across for him. Her kindness only made his guilt worse. "I guess you don't really know much about us, so you can be forgiven for making generalisations. But first of all, geisha are not whores. At least, the good ones aren't. Yes, they sleep with men, but not in the way you think. They have a patron, a danna, who is more like a paying boyfriend than anything else. Secondly, I'm no longer a geisha. I earned enough money to leave my geisha house a few years ago and now I own and run this house."

That prompted Wufei to thinking…how could that be? She was about his age, maybe a few years older: to be so successful at her age was hard to believe. "How did that happen?" he asked.

She smiled. "I had a dream and I worked towards it."

"This was your dream? To own a geisha house?"

"Not exactly," she told him sadly. "I wanted to go home to China. But then I realised I don't have family there anymore, I don't have anywhere to go. I mean, I don't even speak much of the language anymore."

Something in Wufei hurt, more than he would have expected it to. "I'm sorry. It must be hard for you."

"It was. Once," she admitted, uncovering the plates of food in front of him. "But I have a place for myself here now and friends who I care about. It isn't as bad as I once thought it would be. Or maybe I'm just used to it. Wufei, what are you doing here?"

The sudden change in conversation caught Wufei off guard and he almost answered her question automatically, stopping himself just in time. Eventually he just said, "I'm not here to hurt anyone, if that's what you're asking. If anything, I'm here to protect someone so that we may have peace."

Sally's eyes widened. "Really? Who?" When he said nothing she went on, "Haven't I given you enough reasons to trust me yet?"

"That's just it. It's just too convenient that you were there at the right time and the right place to help me. It's hard to believe that I was lucky enough to find a Chinese woman willing to help me in the middle of Japan."

"Well, believe it," said Sally, her voice rising. "Don't you believe in fate, in destiny? Maybe you were meant to find me, so that I could help you protect whoever you have to protect."

"I don't need your help, woman."

"For the last time my name is Sally. And you can't even stand up by yourself, how do you expect to be of any help to anyone in your condition?"

Bringing up the fact of his weakness stung Wufei more than anything else would and he scowled. "Very well, then. If I'm no help to anyone, I'm certainly a burden to you here. Thank you for the meal," he ended, pushing himself to his feet.

He only made it the few steps to the door when his legs gave out on him and he half stumbled, just saving himself from falling flat on his face by catching the doorframe with one hand. Then Sally was there, propping him up on her shoulder and helping him back to the futon. 

"You certainly are a stubborn one, Chang Wufei," she whispered, half-smiling.

Wufei took her small offer of apology and smiled in turn. "Look who's talking…woman."

What do you guys think so far? Shall I keep going? Let me know!


	7. Red Flowers

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Author: Fallen Angel fallen_angel_2012@hotmail.com

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Rating: PG-13 for now, but may contain R material later on.

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Disclaimer: I don't own Gundam Wing and am making no money from this. Don't sue.

****

Chapter 7: Red Flowers

{ 

"It's beautiful, isn't it, Lady Une?"

Lady Une came to stand beside Lord Trieze Kushrenada and smiled. Out the window lay hills of rolling green, interspersed with colour where the orchards were. Occasionally a crane would soar into view, just before dipping to rest in the cool water of the lake. It was indeed beautiful.

But when Lady Une saw her Lord's face, his frown indicated he felt otherwise.

"My Lord? Is something wrong?"

"If our enemies took this land, what would become of it?" Trieze asked his wife. "Would they destroy it in order to grow crops, or would they build houses everywhere to house themselves?"

"What makes you think such horrible things, my Lord?" asked Une, frowning in turn.

"This peace treaty of General Yuy's. It will only end in our demise, I know it." He sighed. "Peace is a nice ideal, but Yuy is young and naïve. He believes himself to have the strength to overcome the will of our enemies…and the will of war. But he is a fool. Our enemies will only use this lapse in our defence to take control and overwhelm us."

Lady Une reached across one pale hand to rest on her husband's shoulder. "If that happens, my Lord, there will be brave men such as yourself to fight once again. You were successful in the past, and you will be successful again. I have faith in you."

"But what if I no longer have faith in myself? And what of the soldiers who depend on me? I have lost too many good men in the past, I will lose no more."

The look of determination on his face intrigued Une as much as it scared her. "What will you do?"

"Don't worry about anything. Better that you don't know, my Lady." He made an effort to smile. "Have you heard anything about the marriage of our daughter?"

Mariemaia. The beloved daughter of Trieze and Une. Though she was from a previous marriage of Trieze's, Une loved her as if she were her own and had watched her grow from a lively child into a well educated and spirited young woman. The world saw her as a woman, anyway, at 16 years old, but Une wasn't so ready to concede to the fact and still had her hesitations about marrying her off so soon.

"What troubles you, my Lady?" asked Trieze upon seeing her expression. "You aren't still worried about Mariemaia, are you? Quatre Raberba Winner will be a good match for her, as well as being a good alliance for our family."

"They're still so young, though. Mariemaia isn't old enough to have discovered who she is or what she wants from life. And I'm sure Mr Winner would benefit from a few more years life experience. Couldn't we wait until they're a little older?"

Trieze shook his head. "One shouldn't ignore opportunity when it presents itself. No one lives forever my dear. We can never know how long we may have to spend with our loved ones." His eyes took on a certain distance and Une knew he was thinking of his first wife, Leia Barton, who had died a number of years ago. Une never doubted his love for her, but she knew he also regretted not being a better husband to Leia when she was alive.

"Changing Mariemaia's future," she said softly, "won't change your past."

"It may not," he conceded, "but it is the right thing to do at this moment. Won't you trust in my decision, my Lady? Haven't I always known what's best?"

"You have. I'm sorry for doubting you. And in answer to your question, Mr Winner has given his final acceptance. He hopes that we will bring Mariemaia to Kyoto soon to meet with him. He has bought tickets for the Kamogawa dances and hopes we will attend with him."

"Kyoto, hm?" Trieze nodded. "Perfect. Tell him we'll be there."

{ { { 

Relena saw Heero nearly every night after their first meeting, usually meeting at the Ichikoko teahouse to begin with, but after that, they always went for a walk beside the Kamogawa river. 

Sally and Noin were ecstatic, not just because Relena seemed quite taken with Heero but that he seemed taken with her. It was only a matter of time, they were sure, before he proposed himself as Relena's danna. And what a perfect match it seemed! Relena would return to the okiya early in the mornings with her face bright and blushing. Sally and Noin would share conspiratory glances: it was love, they were sure. 

Relena, frankly, didn't care what Sally and Noin were planning, as long as it meant she could be with Heero. Everything had changed for her since she met him; she felt as if she'd been reborn. Gone was her hate of soldiers, and her fear for the future. With Heero came a promise of peace at last, not just for herself but for all of Japan.

And it seemed he felt the same way. Each night he confided in her things she was sure he would tell no one else; his life as an orphan and in the army, life on the battlefield, his fears and his hopes. She took them all into herself and held them as precious gifts.

As tradition declared, though, he also presented her with tangible gifts. On the fourth night of their meeting, they were sitting in one of the rooms at the Ichikoko teahouse. Relena had just finished performing for him one of the shamisen pieces she would be playing at the Kamogawa dances in a week and a half when he presented her with a tiny red box.

"What's this?" she asked. She'd received gifts before, but Heero didn't seem the type and she certainly didn't expect it from him: their relationship seemed to be deeper than that.

"Just open it," he told her, the excitement on his face making him seem years younger. For a moment, Relena thought he seemed very familiar to her, but she couldn't place it. Shrugging, she opened the box to reveal an elaborate hair ornament. It was a thin, black birch twig with an intricate carving on the end, decorated with bright red lacquered flowers. She was sure it was a priceless antique and must have cost Heero a fortune.

"Oh, Heero, it's beautiful," she said, turning the ornament over in her fingers, watching the flowers catch the light. She raised her hand to her hair to put it in, but he stopped her.

"Let me."

Blushing, Relena handed him the ornament then blushed even further when he placed a hand beneath her chin to keep her steady while he slid the ornament into place.

"Beautiful," he murmured.

"It is, isn't it? Where did you get it?" Relena asked.

"I bought it here in Kyoto," said Heero, "but I wasn't talking about the hair ornament."

He leaned forward and Relena held her breath. She knew what was coming, but didn't know how to prepare for it. For all she was, and for all that happened to her, she'd never been kissed before. Sure, she'd been with her mizuage patron, but he hadn't kissed her. And being with him had never been like this, with each nerve in her body tingling in anticipation as if it were on fire. 

She closed her eyes and, on reflection, it was a good thing she did otherwise she might have passed out from sensory overload. The feel of Heero's lips on hers, the warmth of his hand at her neck, the tingle of his fingertips on her neck was at the same time all too much and not nearly enough.

After a few more moments of bliss, Heero pulled away. "Relena…"

She opened her eyes. "Yes?"

"I've…I've never known anyone quite like you before," Heero admitted. "I'm still not sure what I'm doing, or what I should be doing."

Relena smiled. "That kiss was a good start."

There was a brief moment of silence before they both started laughing. Relena was glad for the break in tension, though. She felt like the room was filling with too much emotion for either of them to cope with at the moment.

"A friend of mine said a gift was a good way to impress a girl you liked," said Heero, still laughing. "If I'd known, I would've brought you a gift sooner."

"Heero," said Relena, mock-admonishing. "Aah, but it had to be one with this kind of flower," she said, jokingly. "We had red flowers like this near where I grew up, so any other kind wouldn't have impressed me as much."

Heero stopped laughing straightaway. "I thought you said you were born here in Kyoto."

Relena blinked. "Did I? Oh, I'm sorry. We're always told to say that, since it doesn't sound very exotic for men to hear we come from some little village in the middle of nowhere."

"Where were you born then?" asked Heero, his voice suddenly very serious.

"I was born in a little village outside Hiroshima. I lived there with my brother Milliardo and his wife before he was conscripted. I still hope to find him someday…" her voice trailed off when she saw Heero's expression. "Heero, what is it?"

He stood up and moved away from her, mumbling. "No…why didn't I realise it sooner…?"

"Heero, what's going on?" Relena demanded, also standing. He was staring at her as if she were a ghost, his eyes wide and disbelieving. She tried to move towards him, to comfort him, but he wouldn't let her near him.

"Don't you understand, Relena?" he asked her, almost angrily. "Haven't you ever wondered why it seems like we've met before, like we've known each other before this?"

"Well, yes I have but…"

"You were fifteen," he said sombrely. "Maybe sixteen. We'd just finished conscripting the men in town when we heard there were a few people living on small properties on the mountain slopes surrounding Hiroshima. Your brother was the first one we found and our leader, a man who I never really liked, threatened him when he refused to come…" he watched Relena's breathing quicken and her face go pale as he told the story she already knew. "We rode away and, since I was lowest in rank, it was my responsibility to ride in the rear. I didn't see you until you were right on top of me and, thinking you were an enemy, I pulled my knife on you. You were so young, so helpless, but you weren't afraid. You…your face haunted me for years after. I still hear your words to me."

Relena's face went from shock to anger. "As I remember yours. You promised to kill me that day. Have you found a better way to do it, then? Gain my trust and love and then drive the knife home, is that it?"

"No," Heero reached out for her this time, but she shied away. "I didn't know you were the girl in the forest. If I had…I never…things would be different."

"They certainly would. I never would've started trusting soldiers. I should've trusted my instincts."

"Judge me if you must, Relena, but don't judge my mistakes as if I were a soldier, Relena," said Heero. "Your brother is a soldier, too."

"Milliardo?" Hope filled her, dousing the anger. "He's still alive then? Where is he?"

"Your brother is still alive, and a good soldier, well known for his bravery serving under Lord Trieze Kushrenada. As far as I know, he has returned to Japan and is awaiting relocation in Tokyo. If this peace treaty is successful, though, he will be allowed to return home."

Relena's heart filled with joy. Her brother. Her long lost brother whom she'd missed nearly every day of her life here in Kyoto. He was alive and maybe soon would be back with them and they could go home. Home, where Noin would no longer be just a maid and where Hilde could fall in love with whoever she wanted to. And where Relena could do the same.

But who did she want to be with now anyway? Her mind told her no one, but her heart said 'Heero'. And he had brought her brother back to her in a way, and it wasn't even really his fault in the first place. He was young, just obeying orders. And it was years ago…

Echoing her thoughts, Heero said, "It was four years ago…"

"I know, Heero," said Relena, reaching her hand towards him. "And I can forgive you."

Heero's face lit up briefly, but just as quickly darkened again. "I wasn't going to beg your forgiveness, Relena. I was going to tell you that, even though it's in the past, I can't bear the guilt and be with you at the same time." He turned away from her. "It's not worth it."

Her hand fell. "What are you saying, Heero?"

"I don't have to explain myself. I'm ending this, Relena, before we fall any further. I just…I don't care enough about you to justify the guilt I'll feel being with you."

"No," cried Relena. "You're lying. I know you care about me."

"Perhaps your skills with men are slipping, Relena," said Heero curtly. "You forget what you are. What did you ever hope for between us, anyway? There could never be anything that lasted between us."

Relena fell to her knees in dismay. She couldn't believe those words were coming from Heero's mouth, couldn't believe they were real. But she refused to cry before him: she hadn't all those years ago, she wouldn't now.

"Very well," she whispered. "If that's how you feel. There were men before you and there will be others still. I will survive without you, Heero Yuy."

She couldn't see his face but she could tell from the way he stiffened that the words had cut through Heero's lies and deeply affected him. But he wasn't going to surrender, she could see, as he made his way to the door.

"Wait!" she called out.

He turned back and she raised her eyes to his as she reached up and pulled out the hair ornament he'd given her. "Here," she said, offering it to him. "This gift was given in vain. You gave it in hopes of winning a heart you didn't want or deserve. So I'm giving it back."

It sat in her hand for a long time while Heero stared at it. Finally he said, "Keep it. As a memory."

Then he slid open the door and, with the soft bang of it closing behind him, he was gone.

Sad, ne? Sorry about that last scene…but don't worry, there's more…want to read it? Then leave a review and let me know! J 


	8. Fire

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Author: Fallen Angel fallen_angel_2012@hotmail.com

****

Rating: PG-13 for now, but may contain R material later on.

****

Disclaimer: I don't own Gundam Wing and am making no money from this. Don't sue.

****

Chapter 8: Fire

{ 

Elsewhere in the Ichikoko, unbeknownst to Heero or Relena, another charged conversation was taking place. This one not between lovers, but between enemies.

"What are you doing here?" snapped Dorothy, the moment her guest entered the room where she was dining.

"No hello for your cousin, I see," said Lord Trieze Kushrenada. "A pity. I thought you'd buried the past."

"If there's anything I'd like to bury, _dear cousin,_" said Dorothy, "it would be you. How did you get in here?"

"The maid was kind enough to show me in when she heard I was family. She said she didn't know you had any. It's a good thing for me you've never been very open with your past, have you Dorothy?"

"That would be your fault, Trieze. You have no idea what I've been through since you sold me into this life."

"Dorothy," Trieze began gently. "I've told you I'm sorry about what happened. But after your father died and you were left in our care, we simply couldn't afford to take care of you."

"What you really mean is that you couldn't afford to ignore how much money I could bring you as a geisha. What is it you always say? 'One can't ignore opportunity'?"

Trieze nodded as he took a seat opposite her, much to Dorothy's dislike. "I'll admit there were times when your…profession…came in handy."

"You mean there were times when using me as a spy within the circles of the rich and powerful was helpful for your business," she said, raising her head high. "But I'm no longer within your control, cousin, and I no longer believe in your empty promises to bring me home if I did what you want. I have my own life here now. I don't need you anymore."

"But cousin," Trieze reached out a hand to her but when she refused to take it, he lowered it back to the table. "I need your help."

Dorothy laughed. "Ha! I'd rather die than help you. Give it up: you have nothing to offer that would make me help you."

"What about Mr Winner?"

It was a credit to her training as a geisha that Dorothy was able to keep her face calm at the mention of that name. "You've arranged a marriage between Mr Winner and your daughter, Mariemaia, haven't you? What does he have to do with me?"

"You're good, Dorothy, but not that good. I know how you feel about him, I can see it even now. You don't think I'd miss that Mariemaia's soon-to-be-husband visits this teahouse at least 3 times a week to see you, do you?"

"He comes for music lessons."

"Sure. And I'm the Emperor. In any case, Dorothy, I'd hate to have to let slip to him any horrible facts about your past."

Dorothy smiled. "Your attempt at blackmail is doomed to fail, Trieze. Mr Winner knows I was a geisha; he can imagine the things I've done."

"Including murder?"

A sudden urge to retch overcame Dorothy and she had to support herself on the table for fear of passing out. Her heart was jumping around in her chest and she felt like she couldn't get any air.

"How…" she gasped out. "How…did you find out?"

"You didn't think you were the only spy I had in Kyoto, did you? More people know than you'd care to think, Dorothy, it's just that they have no reason to use it against you. And I really hate to do this too, but it's for the sake of all of Japan that I must. You understand that, don't you? In fact, if you weren't so stubborn and didn't have such a grudge against me, I would've considered reasoning with you, but as it is, you've forced me to do this. So basically, do what I want and I might consider bringing the plans for Mr Winner to marry Mariemaia to a halt and you will be free to have him. Cause trouble for me, and I will let slip what you've done to him and he will never come here ever again, even for music lessons."

Dorothy put a hand to her throat: she felt like she was choking. How could this have happened? She thought she was free of the cousin who'd sold her into this life, only to discover that she was living in his trap all along. And Mr Winner…she knew she could live without him if she had to, but to live with his hate and disdain all because of a crime she'd had to commit? It was a fate she couldn't bear. Whatever Trieze wanted of her had to be easier than that.

"What…" she whispered, "do you want me to do?"

Trieze smiled in satisfaction. "I'm glad you've finally seen it my way, Dorothy."

{ { { 

"That's it, woman, I can't take it anymore."

Sally barely looked up from where she was squeezing out towels she'd been using to help Wufei bathe. She was quite used to his rants by now. It had been four days and if anything, his temper and stubbornness were a good contrast to the calm agreement everyone else in the house gave her. Which is probably why no one had come to her about the sound of a man's voice in her room. As head of the household, Sally had privilege over everyone - whether she wanted it or not. 

"What is it, Wufei?"

"I can't stand being inside anymore!" he said, his frustration evident. "I'm strong enough to walk again, you said so yourself. So that's it: I'm getting out of here."

"Where will you go, then?" asked Sally calmly. "How will you find this person you're looking for, this person you're meant to protect who - by the way - would be so much easier to find if you'd only tell me and let me help you."

Wufei sighed. He was done trying to pretend that he couldn't tell her because she was a woman and after 4 days of her care and help he certainly couldn't pretend she hadn't earned his trust. "It's simply not safe for you to know the things I know."

Sally raised her head. He'd never said that before. "Are you in danger, Wufei?"

That was unexpected. Wufei was sure she would argue with him or be worried for her own safety. But instead her first concern was him. It built a warmth in his stomach he wasn't sure he was comfortable with at the moment. "No," he answered finally. "At least, I don't think so. I'm fairly sure no one besides yourself knows I'm here and if they did, I don't think they'd be able to guess at my mission. But I've been wrong about people before."

Sally's expression brightened and her eyes fairly glowed. "Is that your way of apologising, Wufei?"

"Interpret it however you want, woman. But don't think I haven't noticed how you've managed to move the conversation from its starting point."

"Which was?"

"That I want to get out of here," he said. Then it occurred to him that he really had nowhere else to go at the moment and maybe it would be beneficial for him to stay here just for a little longer. "I mean, perhaps just for a little while…to gain my bearings."

"Very well," agreed Sally. "It can't have been fun for you to be cooped up here all day. Wait until I make sure the maids are asleep and then we can go."

{ { { 

The cool air flowing up from the Kamo river brushed across Sally's cheeks and played with the few loose strands of hair around her face. She smiled contentedly. True, this wasn't the home she'd dreamed of, but walking here with Wufei, like this, was the closest she'd felt to home in years. Subconsciously, she linked her arm with his as they walked. He stiffened for a brief second before relaxed and placing his other hand on her own.

"You're looking much better," Sally said, leaning against his shoulder.

"I feel it," he acknowledged, looking at the verandas that backed on to the opposite side of the river where multicoloured lanterns hung and the sound of laughing men and geisha could be heard. "Your city also looks much better now. I didn't appreciate it's beauty before."

"Well, you were sick before, so that's understandable."

Wufei was silent for so long that Sally was a little startled when he spoke again. "I don't think it's that for some reason."

Sally went to speak, tried to find words, but when she looked up at Wufei, he was watching her so intently that she couldn't even think. It was if he were seeing her for the first time and she wondered if the moonlight were making her eyes shine as brightly as his were right now.

"Wufei…" she whispered as he leaned towards her, his hand securing itself behind her neck, pulling her towards him. Sally closed her eyes and waited.

The initial feel of his lips on hers surprised him. They were soft, inquisitive, questioning, asking her silently if it was okay. She responded the same way, kissing him back gently and moving her hands from where they rested at his arms to his shoulders, grasping at the material of his white jacket.

Wufei felt like he was falling. The scent of her, the feel of her skin, the tiny motions of her lips - things he could only imagine at while she nursed him back to health - were now, as he expected, driving him wild. But what did he have to offer her in return? He could see no further into his future than this night, and Sally deserved more than that.

"Sally," he groaned, kissing her neck along the line of her kimono. "I'm sorry…"

"Nothing…" she gasped out as he held her hips, pulling her against him. Through the layers of her kimono, she could swear she felt the warmth of his body enflaming hers. "Nothing…to be sorry…for…"

But there was. Wufei wanted her. More than life itself. But his own life didn't even belong to him: how could he offer it to her?

"Sally," he pulled away from the kiss, but quickly pulled her body against him in a tight embrace. "I think…I think I l-"

"No," Sally said quickly, raising her face to his. "Don't say it when you and I both know you can't stay."

"I'm sorry."

She smiled sadly. "Stop saying that. There's nothing to be sorry for. Wufei…"

Whatever Sally would have said next was lost in the sound of an explosion. Further up the river, fire was rising up from one of the houses. 

"Oh, no."

Sally ran forward, cursing the kimono skirts that slowed her down, trying to catch a glimpse of where the fire was. She didn't want to think the worst, but as she got closer, she couldn't help it.

"Sally, what is it?" Wufei asked, catching up with her.

"Oh, gods," Sally cried, grasping Wufei's arm for support as she realised where the smoke and flames were rising from. "That's my house. Come on, we have to get the others out…"

{ { { 

A small crowd had already gathered at the Po okiya when Sally and Wufei got there. From what Sally could see, the fire had started in one of the upper bedrooms, but was spreading quickly through the upper floor. Already, people - geisha, mothers, young men - were hauling buckets of water up from the river in an attempt to put out the fire, but without much effect. The most they could hope for at the moment was to protect the houses on either side.

Of all the things in Japan, fire and earthquake were the most feared. Fire, possibly, most of all since houses were all made of wood and in the summer fire could spread quickly, and with indiscriminating deadliness.

Which is why Sally was more distressed about those inside than the property. Everyone knew fire was a killer. She could already see all the maids standing outside in their sleeping robes, watching in horror or trying to help put out the fire. Noin was one of them but when she saw Sally she came running over straightaway.

"Sally, I can't find Hilde or Relena!"

"What?" Sally's heart stopped beating for a full second. 

"Hilde wasn't in her room," said Noin, almost hysterically. "And I couldn't get to Relena's for the smoke."

"Oh my god," Sally said, looking up at the house. The top floor was already engulfed in flames - anyone still up there couldn't still be alive. "Oh, no, Relena. Hilde…"

She was distracted from her thoughts by the sight of someone pushing through the crowd and into the house. He didn't seem to care about the fire, or about the clouds of smoke pouring out the windows.

"Noin, did you see that?"

"I did. It looked like…but it couldn't be…"

"Who?"

"I could swear that was Heero Yuy."

{ { { 

As Wufei and Sally were walking by the river, Heero was walking up the street from the Ichikoko Teahouse, replaying the nights incidents in his mind. He'd done the right thing, he was sure of it. But if so, why did he feel so terrible? How could he have hurt Relena so badly, said such awful things, even as he could still taste her lips on his own? What kind of man did that make him?

__

A coward, a part of his mind hissed at him. _You're nothing but a coward. You were afraid of how strongly you felt for Relena and afraid of how you'd hurt her so you ran away._

Speaking of running, though, at that moment Heero noticed that quite a few people were running past him, obviously in a hurry to get somewhere.

"Wait," Heero said to one passing girl, a young _maiko_. "What's going on?"

"Fire, mister," she said, gasping for breath. "Please, let me go. I should go help. My house is next door…"

"Where is it?"

"The Po house. Please, mister…"

He nodded and she continued running. Po. That name…he knew that name…

__

Dear gods in heaven, he thought as he remembered. _Po. Relena's house._

Relena.

{ { { 

Relena couldn't breathe. 

Each time she went to take in air, all she could inhale was smoke. It filled her lungs and clouded her vision. She tried to move, but her body wouldn't respond. She was going to die here, she realised, collapsed at the bottom of the stairs, suffocated by the smoke. 

Still, it was possibly better than being burnt alive, which is what would have happened if she hadn't been lying in her bed awake when the fire started. She supposed, in a way, she had Heero to thank for that. Because of him, she couldn't sleep and when she first smelt smoke, had been able to leave her room.

But the fire had spread quickly. And the smoke had clouded her vision so badly that when she'd tried to climb down the stairs she'd fallen and sprained her ankle at the bottom. By then the smoke was everywhere and she couldn't even stop coughing long enough to get to her feet.

__

Milliardo, Noin, Hilde…I'm sorry. We were so close to being a family again.

Heero…

"Relena!"

The desperate cry cut through Relena's thoughts like a knife through butter. Was she imagining things? No. The cry had been too clear, too tinged with emotion to be her imagination.

"I'm here…" she tried to cry out but she could barely speak. And her voice could barely be heard over the roar of the fire consuming the roof above her head. She tried to take in more air, to call out a little louder this time. 

It turned out she didn't need to. Suddenly a figure emerged from the smoke, his clothes covered in soot and by his arm across his face. Not that that mattered. Relena would have recognised the figure anyway.

"Heero…"

"Relena." He bent down to pick her up and Relena could swear he was smiling in relief. Had he been afraid he would find her dead? Had he cared for her more than he'd said? "Come on, I'll get you out of here. Then I have to come back for your sister."

"Hilde? She's not here," Relena croaked out. "She went to…to…" her words were lost in a fit of coughs and Heero shook his head.

"Don't talk," he told her as he carried her outside. "You've inhaled a lot of smoke and I don't want you passing out."

Relena smiled, despite her condition. "I was right," she whispered close to his ear as Sally and Noin ran towards them. "You do care."

"Relena, I…" It was too late. She'd lost consciousness, a smile still on her face. It was then that he realised how close he'd come to losing her. A few minutes more and she would have died from the smoke. 

He smiled down at her. Even covered in smoke and with the edge of her kimono slightly singed, she was still the most beautiful thing he'd ever seen. He bent down and placed a kiss on her forehead just as Noin reached him.

"I do care," he whispered. "Relena."

"General Yuy!" cried Noin. "Is she okay? What about Hilde?"

"She's fine. Just passed out. She will need to rest though. As for Hilde, Relena says she wasn't in there, that she'd gone somewhere else."

"Where could she be?" Noin asked, her eyes wide with fear for her little sister. Heero instantly felt guilty. He had a good idea about where Hilde was - Duo's. But saying so wouldn't just hurt his friend but Relena's sister as well.

"General Yuy, is there something you know that I should? About Hilde?"

How he felt must have been written on his face and he turned away from her. "It's really not my place to say. She is safe, though."

Noin frowned. "Very well. I'll speak to Hilde later. For now, could you come with me? I want to take Relena someplace to lie down. Sally will take care of things here…"

{ { { 

As the fire burned, though with a little less ferocity now, Sally bit back tears. It was true that as long as she hadn't lost anyone she cared about, material possessions could be replaced, and buildings rebuilt. But that didn't make the hurt of losing them any less sharp. Her room seemed to have taken the most damage and with it, the few remaining memoirs Sally had of her home.

The first few tears were building in her eyes when a voice called out from the alley behind her.

"Sally!"

She turned and could just spot Wufei in the shadows. "Wufei?" she asked, walking towards him. "What is it with you and alleyways?"

"Sally, listen, I don't have time. I've been thinking - that fire, it started just too quickly. It spread too quickly. And from your room."

"I must have left a lantern burning," Sally mused sadly.

"But you didn't. I remember checking before we left. And I've known you for enough time now to know you're especially careful about those things."

Sally didn't have time to reflect on his complement in light of what he was implying. "Are you saying someone lit that fire on purpose?"

"I think that whoever caused that fire knew I was staying with you. Or at least suspected it. Sally, I've put you in danger. But that ends now - I'm going to leave."

"What? No," said Sally, grabbing his arm. "You can't. If I'm in danger, then you are too. Look what they did. If we'd been in my room at the time, we'd be dead right now. I don't know what it is you're doing here, but if it's enough for people to want to kill you then the last thing you need is to be alone in this city right now."

His face softened. "I'm sorry. But I won't let you get hurt for my sake." He touched her cheek with his hand and Sally turned into his palm. He could feel the moisture of her tears and the thought that she was crying for him made his throat constrict painfully. "I…I'm sorry."

Sally nodded. "I'm sorry too. Please, be safe."

He wanted to tell her he'd be back. He wanted to tell her that everything would be okay, and that he would survive this mission. But he couldn't lie to her. No more lying.

So he kissed her. Not gently, the way he had before, but passionately, almost painfully, crushing her lips to his. He tried to ignore the taste of her tears and the way she dug her fingers into his collar, pulling him against her. All he wanted to do was imprint this moment on his mind. To be able to imprint this woman on his mind. This woman who'd brought him back from death in more ways than one. He wanted this moment to last forever.

Because it couldn't. Finally he pulled away.

"I'll find my way back to you," he whispered. "One way or another, I'll find my way back."

And then he was gone.

Translations:

Maiko: a geisha in training


	9. Soldiers

****

Author: Fallen Angel fallen_angel_2012@hotmail.com

****

Rating: PG-13 for now, but may contain R material later on.

****

Disclaimer: I don't own Gundam Wing and am making no money from this. Don't sue.

****

Chapter 9: Soldiers

{ 

"I just don't understand women sometimes."

Trowa raised an eyebrow. That wasn't the sort of question Quatre was prone to asking.

"Women in general, or one in particular?"

Quatre sighed. "Dorothy Catalonia."

"Correct me if I'm wrong, but wasn't a marriage being arranged between you and Mariemaia Kushrenada?"

"It was…it is. But, I'm not sure. I've met Mariemaia and she's a sweet girl but Dorothy is, well, Dorothy. She makes me angry and happy and scared and nervous all at once. I'm not saying that's the basis for a perfect match but if I marry Mariemaia, will I spend the rest of my life wondering if I could have made it work?"

"Possibly," answered Trowa, sipping at his sake. "The easiest way to work this out though, is to find out how Dorothy feels about you."

"That's the thing. She's not talking to me at the moment."

"And why is that?" asked Trowa.

"Well, when I broke the news about Mariemaia she got a little mad and…"

"Enough said. She's jealous."

Quatre slammed his glass of sake down, spilling a few drops over the rim. He ignored them though. "That's just it! If she feels that way, why didn't she tell me when I asked? If I can confess how I feel, why can't she?"

"Dorothy isn't like other women, Quatre…"

"Understatement of the year."

"She has a past," said Trowa, and frowned to emphasise this was a serious point he was making. "And there are things…things that maybe she hasn't told you."

Quatre's eyes widened and Trowa sighed. "No, I suppose she hasn't. You see, I've known Dorothy for longer than you have. Not intimately, but I remember when she first became a geisha. She had a _danna_ almost straightaway."

"I knew she'd had one at one stage. Lots of geisha do."

"But not every geisha has a _danna _like this. I'd seen him at parties and the like and Quatre…it was like she was dead inside when she was around him. When you're an actor, you get a lot better at reading people's body language and though I couldn't be sure, I was afraid for her."

Quatre's eyes widened even further and he turned to his friend. "Trowa, what are you trying to say?"

The taller man stared off into space for a while, searching for the memory. "Well, this one time for instance; we were at a party and it was getting late, very late. Most of the people had gone home but Dorothy's danna…he was young, you see. Like you, I suppose. But not. He wanted to stay at the party and when Dorothy politely suggested they leave, his eyes narrowed and he placed his hand on the back of her neck. To anyone else it might have looked like a caress but from where I sat, I could see he was digging his fingers in. Hard. She looked like she was about to cry."

"Dear gods…"

"I know. But there was nothing I could do. Quatre, if you'd known her back then you wouldn't even have recognised her. She was quiet, obedient. But the funny thing was, when her danna wasn't there, she was the Dorothy we know now: witty and lively. I think she tried to be like that at other parties so she would earn more money. That's probably why she managed to free herself from her okiya at such a young age. Sometimes I worry that what I saw at parties was only the tip of the iceberg when it came to his cruelty towards her. I suppose some men need to hurt women in order to make themselves feel strong…Quatre? What is it?"

At first, his friend seemed lost in his thoughts. But when Trowa looked more closely, he could see the other man's shoulders were shaking with barely contained anger. It was a frightening sight.

"What happened to him?"

"What?"

"What happened to her danna?" asked Quatre, his voice low and tinged with hate.

Trowa shrugged. "I'm not sure exactly. He disappeared, I'd heard. It wouldn't be the first time a young man has gotten sick of shouldering responsibility and run away with a maid or something. Why?"

Quatre was grasping the sake glass very tightly. "No reason. It doesn't matter now."

"Quatre, I hope you're not thinking what I think you're…hey, do you smell something?"

The other man raised his head. "Actually, I do. Is that…I think that's smoke!"

Both men turned around and could make out the glow of fire over the houses. "We should go help," Quatre said, throwing some yen on the table to pay for their meal. They began to run in the direction of the fire and the sounds of people's cries, but it was taking too long.

"I know a shortcut," Trowa said and was about to lead Quatre through one of the small alleyways when a figure emerged from it. And moving fast. Suspiciously so.

With a silent nod to each other, both men were in pursuit. The figure ahead of them moved fast, but Trowa and Quatre had the home advantage. As Quatre stayed on his tail, Trowa swerved off, probably to cut through one of the alleys and circle around.

Which was a good thing, Quatre thought as he ran. Whoever they were chasing was fast, and crafty. But he also didn't seem to realise he was being followed and as they reached the end of the street and the figure paused to catch his breath, Quatre made his move.

"Gotcha," he said, throwing himself at the figure.

"What you have," said the figure suddenly, "is air." With that, he stepped sideways and Quatre landed on the road with a thud. When he turned around, though, the figure was fighting with Trowa now. As they fought, Quatre could see that they'd underestimated their adversary. He was young, Quatre could tell now, and Chinese by his clothes.

But as the two men fought, Quatre could see that this man was more than that. Trowa was one of the best martial artists Quatre knew, fighting with skill and grace, but this stranger made him look like an amateur.

Trowa knew he still had an advantage, though. As they traded kicks and blows, Trowa was forcing the stranger to turn his back to Quatre. And Quatre, for his part, wasn't missing the signal. When he judged the time was right, he flung himself at the stranger's back and toppled him to the ground. With Trowa's help, they soon had him pinned.

"Get off me," said the man, in accented Japanese.

"After all the trouble we went to to get you pinned," said Trowa, panting. "I don't think so."

"I'm not what you think I am."

"There's one way to find out," said Trowa, as he used his _obi_ to tie the other man's hands. "I think it's time we had a little talk."

{ { { 

"It's only a very minor sprain," said Sally, examining Relena's ankle. Her sadness at Wufei's departure was quickly overridden by the need to get Relena someplace to rest and finding where Hilde had gotten to.

So far, she'd accomplished the first task. The maids' quarters at the back of the house were untouched by the fire and while the maids scoured the house for whatever could be salvaged or went to buy food, Sally and Noin were there, watching Relena sleep. Heero was there too. He knew he had to leave before she woke up, but he couldn't leave her side until he was sure she'd be okay. Sally and Noin had told him that she would be fine and they would contact him if anything changed. But he'd assured them he'd much rather stay for now.

As for Hilde, Sally could only guess. She blamed herself for being so careless. Many mornings she'd seen Hilde coming into the house early, but assumed that she'd only gone out for a walk or to watch the sunrise. She knew now she should have said something but she'd never thought Hilde had it in her to lie about where she'd been at night, or keep the secret for so long. That was something she'd have to investigate when the young girl got back…

"This should be healed within a few days," said Sally, bandaging Relena's ankle. "Hopefully, it won't be too painful by the time she…"

She was cut off by the sound of a light rapping at the door. Noin stood up. "I'll get it."

Noin came back a few minutes later, followed by a very docile and sad looking Hilde. There was an awkward silence in the room until Sally stood up.

"Will you excuse us, Mr Yuy?" asked Sally in a flat tone. Heero nodded and then she, Hilde and Noin were gone. They mustn't have gone far, though, because Heero could hear their voices from the next room.

Well, he could hear Sally and Noin's voices. They rose from low and hushed to high pitched and quite passionate. He tried not to listen, but it was very hard. Especially when Hilde seemed to get tired of being lectured and lifted her voice in self-defence.

Then, with a bang, the door to the next room opened and Hilde came storming out, tears streaming down her face. She fled past the room Relena and Heero were in and out the front door.

"Shall I go after her?" Noin asked of Sally, the two women appearing in the hallway outside.

"No," answered Sally. "Give her time to think on what we said. When she's done, she'll be back."

{ { { 

"So let me get this straight," said Quatre, crouching on his haunches opposite the Chinese man in Trowa and Catherine's main sitting room. "You want us to let you go, unharmed, after you've told us absolutely nothing about who you are or what you're doing here."

Their 'guest' scowled, pulling at the ties that held him bound to the wooden support in the centre of the room.

"Are you sure those will hold?" asked Quatre, turning to Trowa.

Trowa nodded from where he stood, arms crossed, leaning up against the wall. He looked as bad as Quatre felt. It had been hours - the sun was rising now - and the man wasn't saying anything. But they'd been hesitant to hand him over to the authorities straight away when there was something suspicious about the whole situation, too many unanswered questions. For example, if the man was a soldier, why wasn't he in uniform? If he were an assassin, hiding in the country, why did he seem so well cared for? Why was he educated enough to speak Japanese?

"Can you at least give us a name?" Quatre said. "As a way of building up some trust? My name is Quatre Raberba Winner and this is Trowa Barton."

The Chinese man remained silent.

"If we wanted to hurt you or turn you in," said Trowa, "we'd have done it by now. It's only out of the kindness of our hearts that we're giving you this chance to explain yourself to people who'll listen to you. You're being a fool by passing up this opportunity."

The other man seemed to consider this for a while before saying, "My name is Chang Wufei."

Quatre breathed a silent sigh of relief. "Good. Now, Wufei, what are you doing here?"

"You wouldn't believe me if I told you."

"Try us."

"I'm here to protect someone."

Trowa raised his eyebrows in surprise. "Protect? Not assassinate?"

"No," said Wufei. Then he smiled confidently. "If I'd been sent to kill someone, they'd be dead by now and I'd be out of this country."

"Alright then," said Trowa, stepping forward. "If that's the case, then who have you been sent to protect, and by whom?"

"Do you think me a fool? I can't trust you with that kind of information. You may be in league with those who would try to kill the man I'm trying to protect."

"So you're not an assassin," said Quatre. "I suppose I can believe that. But are you an arsonist? Why were you running away from the direction of that fire?"

"I wasn't running from the fire," said Wufei. He paused, then added sadly, "I was running to protect someone who'd tried to protect me. That fire was lit, I'm sure, in an attempt to kill me. To stop me from completing my mission."

"This enemy of yours," said Trowa. "Does he have a name?"

Wufei laughed derisively. "Again, you wouldn't believe me if I told you. He is a rich and powerful man in this country. Above suspicion."

"No one's above suspicion. Especially the rich and powerful."

At this Quatre stood up and went outside. He came back a few seconds later and called Trowa over to the door.

"Trowa, I just spoke to Mrs. Noventa, across the road," he whispered. "She said the fire was at the Po house."

"Po? As in Sally Po? So she was the one protecting him."

"She is Chinese…"

"But Sally's no traitor. And she's no fool either. If she felt she could trust this guy Wufei, then maybe we can too."

"I think so," agreed Quatre. "I can't help feeling like he's telling us the truth."

"Great, we can trust him. How do we convince him he can trust us?"

"Maybe we don't have to," said Quatre, thinking. "Put the pieces of the puzzle together, Trowa. He's here to protect someone, someone who the Chinese want alive. Now who do we know is in Kyoto at the moment who fits that description?"

Trowa's face lit up. "Heero Yuy! The peace treaty. So if he's the target, who's this enemy?"

"He said rich and powerful. That could be anyone. Even me. How are we meant to work that out?"

"We might not be able to," said Trowa, smiling. "But I know someone who can."

{ { { 

"Hilde? Babe, what are you…?"

Duo's cheerful greeting faded the moment he saw Hilde's face. She'd been crying, badly. Her hair was dishevelled and she was still in the kimono he'd last seen her in. The kimono he'd seen her in just before dawn.

"Oh, no," Duo murmured, more to himself than anyone else. He'd known for some time that this day would come, the day when he and Hilde's secret came to light. He just hadn't known it would be so soon. "Come inside."

He led her into his tiny apartment and she knelt in his excuse for a lounge room, her eyes downcast. 

"I'll just get you some tea, okay?" He moved towards the kitchen but she stopped him by grabbing his sleeve.

"Hilde?"

She raised her face, eyes still glistening with tears. "They found out, Duo. There was a fire and they realised I wasn't at home last night."

"A fire? Hilde, is everyone all right?"

She nodded mutely. "Relena sprained her ankle, but they say she'll be okay. But Duo, I might never see her again. They told me they would forgive me but I had to choose, between you and them."

"Hilde, babe, you don't need to tell me this right now."

"Yes I do," she whispered and Duo sighed. How could he refuse her anything, when she was sitting before him, shivering and holding back tears? She looked so helpless, so unlike the Hilde he knew and loved. He knelt before her. "C'mere."

She fell into his arms like a drowning woman would fall upon dry land and began crying. Not soft little tears, but painful sobs that made Duo's heart constrict in pity. This was his fault. He should've known better. He should've known she'd only get hurt.

"They tried to make me choose," she sobbed into his chest. "I love my sisters and I respect Sally-san, but I couldn't choose. I just couldn't. I love you, Duo. More than anything else in this world…more than being with my family…I love you."

"What?" Duo raised her face to his. He had to see it in her eyes. No one had ever loved him before. Well, he suspected Hilde did, even if she never put it into words.

Until now.

"I said I love you," said Hilde, smiling through her tears. "I choose you. I can't live without you Duo, and I want to be with you. If you'll have me."

"If I'll have you? How can you ask me that?" He planted a quick kiss on her lips before standing. "Wait right here, I've got something to give you."

He darted into his bedroom and began rummaging under his futon. "C'mon. Where are you…aha!"

From under the thin white mattress he pulled a tiny velvet blue box. Inside, nestled on a pillow of white, was a shimmering, solitaire diamond ring. It had cost a large part of his most recent pay from Heero, but when he saw it, he knew he had to buy it.

Duo didn't know what the tradition was here in Japan, but he'd always been a sucker for the kind of proposal the old romance movies back home pictured. He knew Hilde would be thrilled too, once she understood what he was asking.

"What have you got there?" asked Hilde, her eyes lighting up a little as he came back into the room.

"It's for you," he said, kneeling before her. "Hilde, I know I don't have that much to offer you. Nothing except my love and loyalty, really. But if you'll be happy with just that, then will you do me the honour of marrying me?"

Here he opened the box and watched Hilde's eyes widen as she took in what he was saying and the gift he was giving her. "Your wife…you want me to be your wife?"

"I'm sorry, you're right. It was stupid of me to ask."

"No, that's not it at all. I'm just…oh, Duo, of course I'll marry you!"

"You will? Hilde, that's fantastic. You've made me the happiest man in the world."

"Oh, Duo," said Hilde, smiling as he slid the ring onto her finger. It was a perfect fit. "I love you."

Their eyes met and Duo found it hard to breathe as he realised he was looking into the eyes of the woman he would marry, and who might one day bear his children.

"I love you too, Hilde."

They kissed then. Not a playful kiss like they'd shared earlier that day, but a passionate one, an unspoken affirmation of their feelings. Together, they began to fall back onto the floor when…

__

Knock, knock.

Duo growled. "Dammit. No one's home!"

Hilde giggled as the knocking continued. 

"Duo Maxwell, are you in there? It's important that we talk with you."

"Fine," he called out, disentangling himself from Hilde. "Just give me a minute."

When Duo was sure all his clothing was in the right place and after Hilde had gone to hide in the bedroom - it simply wasn't proper for her to be there, engaged or not - Duo answered the door.

There stood a blonde man with expensive clothing, a taller, dark haired man and a shorter one with narrowed eyes.

"What is it?"

"Duo?"

"Yes? Hey, I know you," he said, turning to Quatre. "I wrote an article on you once…Quatre Winner, isn't it?"

"It is. Can we come in?"

"Sure," said Duo, letting them past. "What is this all about, though? And who are your friends?"

"This is Trowa Barton," said Quatre, " and this is Chang Wufei. I'll get right to the point: we need your help."

Duo frowned. "My help? What, you need an article written or some translating done?"

"No," said Trowa, seeing that Duo wasn't going to admit to anything without some prodding. "We need help concerning Heero Yuy."

Duo laughed. "As in General Heero Yuy? Fellahs, I don't even know the guy."

"Then why did you meet him for lunch last week? Why did you accept an envelope - probably full of money - from him?"

Duo's joking demeanour was gone and his tone became serious. "I can see I've been careless. I hadn't realised we'd been spotted."

"Don't blame yourself," said Trowa with a wave of his hand. "I'm a good reader of body language. You two were screaming secretive. And I'm probably the only person of some notoriety who would frequent the kinds of places you do. So what are you to him? A spy, I suppose."

"No point lying now. I am. A guy like Heero needs eyes in the back of his head and I'm them. So you got that out of me: now what? I won't tell you anything more than that."

"Duo, we need more than that," said Quatre. "What we know involves an assassination conspiracy concerning Heero Yuy. You may be the only one who can help us piece together who's involved and why they would want to sabotage the peace treaty."

"So what do you know?"

"Actually," said Trowa, "it's not what we know." He turned to Wufei. "Tell him."

Wufei looked Duo up and down and snorted. "Humph. No way. You expect me to divulge my mission to this loudmouth, crazy American?"

Duo grinned. "Hey, this guy's good. It takes most people a few hours to make that kind of assessment."

"Wufei, please. You won't get anywhere on your own," persisted Quatre. "He may not look it, but Duo is our connection to Yuy and the closest thing we have to help at the moment."

"Very well," said Wufei. "But I feel nervous enough about telling this man…I don't want the woman to hear either."

"Woman, what woman?" asked Quatre in bewilderment. But Duo knew what he was talking about and said to Wufei, seriously this time, "You _are_ good. Hey, Hilde, you can come out now."

Hilde emerged from the bedroom, her eyes noticeably less red from crying. "I'll leave," she said but Duo stopped her. "No. Whatever Wufei can say to me, he can say to my fiancée."

Trowa and Quatre shrugged and Wufei sighed. "Fine. You already know my name is Chang Wufei. What you don't know is that I'm the nephew of the Emperor and his personal bodyguard." He ignored the gasps of surprise at this and went on. "China is tired of fighting this war and we had thought Japan was too, until our spies discovered that there were a few who would rather the peace treaty did not come to pass. Even with the peace treaty eminent, though, the Emperor couldn't send troops into your country to protect Heero Yuy, so he sent me.

"When I arrived, I was able to meet up with contacts who took me in and gave me information on Heero Yuy and those who were against him. I noticed one man in particular seemed supportive but wasn't acting so: his troops remained stationed overseas, he continued to ration his crops…"

"Trieze Kushrenada," said Duo grimly. "I came to the same conclusion, but didn't have enough to hold against him. He's a powerful man."

Wufei nodded. "I realised that too."

"Trieze Kushrenada? Are you sure?" asked Quatre. "I can't believe it…he's always been so noble."

"I said he was above suspicion. In any case, I knew I could never accuse Trieze and be believed. So I aimed to arrive in Kyoto when Yuy did and warn him. But time was running out. I knew Trieze would make his move soon but I didn't know what. On top of that, when I reached Kyoto, my contact had passed away from a heart condition and I was on my own, already suffering from a sickness I'd picked up on my travels. Luckily someone found me and nursed me back to health."

"That was Sally Po, right?" interjected Quatre. "We figured that out when we realised where the fire was."

Hilde's eyes widened. "You were the big secret Sally was keeping? I knew something was going on…and to think she got so angry at me for keeping secrets."

"She had good reason to keep me a secret," said Wufei firmly and with some regret. "Someone must have found out I was hiding there and lit that fire to flush me out. It's not hard to believe that Trieze has spies all throughout this city. Knowing which one will make an attempt on Yuy's life is anyone's guess.

"There's more," said Quatre quietly. He was shifting from foot to foot and looking very uncomfortable. "He'll be in the city soon too."

"What? Why?"

"It's my fault. I didn't realise what he really was. And I'm engaged to his daughter. I invited him and his family here to watch the Kamogawa dances with me next week."

"This is not good," said Duo.

"And General Yuy will most likely be at the dances too," offered Hilde. "I'm sure Relena would have invited him to come watch her dance. She's got a starring role."

Trowa's eyes lit up. "This may be a good thing, though. Now we know who is doing what, we can form a plan."

"What kind of plan?" asked Duo. "A make-sure-Heero-doesn't-die plan?"

"Well, yes, but there's more to it than that. Wufei, you said you couldn't accuse Trieze. But what if we brought his plan out into the open? What if we forced him to attempt to murder Heero, right out in public? There could be no doubt then."

Quatre's eyes lit up too. "Yes, I can see where you're going Trowa. You have an idea?"

"Sort of. I'm working on it. There's just one small problem."

"What's that?"

"We need to find out which one of Trieze's spies has been given the job of murdering Heero Yuy. And we need to make sure they fail."

****

{ { { 

She truly was beautiful.

Heero had know this the moment he'd met her. Any man with two eyes in his head would have known it. She was like a work of art, her eyes the clearest blue, her hair like spun gold. He felt sorry for the man who created her kimonos: how depressing it must have been to know that even with the finest silks and dyes, he never could have created anything that could compare with it's wearer. 

Heero had known this, but now he was sure of it. Now that she was lying there in only the plain robe she slept in and without the pale makeup geisha always wore. These things only made it even more obvious that without the trimmings and adornments, she was already perfection.

Almost, anyway, Heero thought, reaching out to tuck a stray strand of hair behind her ear. He meant for it to be a momentary caress, but the temptation to rest his hand against her cheek - to see if her skin were as soft as it looked, to remember the warmth of her kiss - was too strong.

The voices of Sally and Noin drifted in from the next room and Heero looked up, startled. Then he relaxed, knowing they would be there for a while longer. They were discussing Hilde still and Heero shook his head in regret and pity. He felt sorry for Relena's sister, even if he'd never met her. Maybe people like himself and Duo weren't allowed to love without complications. It seemed cruel but appropriate of the Gods to make it that way: nothing else in their life was easy, why should love be?

"Heero…" Relena whispered, stirring. Heero pulled his hand away quickly, afraid she knew he was there. But after a moment he realised she was only dreaming.

__

She dreams of me…

The concept of meaning that much to a person startled Heero. And did she, in turn, mean that much to him? he wondered then realised it was a stupid question. He'd run into a burning building for her, without a second thought. Of course she did.

And then he said the words he could only ever say when she didn't hear him, the words he should have said last night at dinner.

"I care for you, Relena," he said, "but it's more than that. I love you." He stood up then and, supporting his weight on his hands either side of her, bent down and placed a kiss on her still lips. For a second, he thought she may have kissed him back and then reminded himself she was asleep.

"And because I love you," he went on, whispering against her lips, "I can't stay. If I become your danna, I'll never be sure if you love me and I don't think I can handle that. And I don't want you to have to pretend. But you'll be free soon. This war will be over and your brother will return and he'll free you. In time, you'll forget me."

He stood up and brushed his hand across her cheek. Yes, she would forget. But he never would. Even if he were lucky - or unlucky - enough to live until he were an old man, he would never forget the geisha who had stolen his heart. And at the same time, shown him he had one.

With these thoughts making his steps heavy and slow, he left the room and left Relena.

When she was sure he was gone, she opened her eyes and let the tears fall out, running across her face and onto the pillow beneath her. "No, Heero, you're wrong," she whispered to the air around her. "_Wasurenai."_

I won't forget…

Translations:

Wasurenai: I won't forget 

****

AN: Long, ne? Sorry 'bout that. I was on a roll. Annoying how that always happens at 2:30 am when it's freezing cold and my fingers are numb. Oh, and sorry too about that last bit - even I'm saddened and I wrote it!


	10. Dance

****

Author: Fallen Angel fallen_angel_2012@hotmail.com

****

Rating: PG-13 for now, but may contain R material later on.

****

Disclaimer: I don't own Gundam Wing and am making no money from this. Don't sue.

****

Chapter 10: Dance

{ 

__

1 week later:

There was a story Relena's dance teacher told her once, many years ago, in hopes of igniting in Relena the extra emotion that was needed to turn a good dancer into a great one. 

It was a story of a woman who'd lost all she had in a fire - her husband, her children, her home and her possessions. Desperate to have them back, she went to the temple and begged the Gods to return her family to her. Out of pity for her plight, they promised to return her family to her, but on the condition that she perform for them the most beautiful dance they'd ever seen at sunrise 3 days from then. The woman was grateful but terrified. She had never been trained in dance and didn't think she had any grace. Yet there was so much to be gained, so she practiced day in and day out for the next 3 days. At sunrise on the third day, she stood in the temple gardens and danced.

When she was done, the Gods told her she'd be granted her wish and asked her where she'd learnt such a dance. Even they were amazed by her grace and the elegance of her movements. They asked that she perform once more but she said, sadly, she could never dance that way again.

'I will have my family back now,' she explained, 'and my soul will once again fly. Only once you've lost everything and you are alone with your sorrow, can your soul be tamed into the beauty of notes in a song, or the movements of a dance.'

Now that she'd lost everything, Relena understood that story: more than she ever could have before. Hilde was still missing. Her brother had been taken from her. The man she loved had left her. Her soul felt heavy, grounded. Trapped in sorrow.

"Relena?"

She was broken out of her thoughts by a voice beside her. There stood Cathy, Trowa's sister, beaming at her. "Are you alright?"

Relena smiled convincingly. "I'm just fine."

"Stage nerves, I suppose," said Cathy. "I wouldn't be surprised. I poked my head out before and the Mizuno Theatre is the fullest I've ever seen it. And your performance will bring down the house, I just know it."

"It will with your script," answered Relena. "Is Trowa ready yet? We go on in 10 minutes, I think."

A strange look came over Cathy's face. "I think he'll be meeting you backstage." And with that she was gone.

Relena took the time alone to survey the change room. All around her, geisha and maiko were bustling back and forth, having their hair fixed by haggard looking wig makers or kimonos adjusted by dressers. Relena knew she should have been buoyed by their excitement - it was opening night of the Kamogawa dances, after all - but she couldn't be. 

She checked herself in the mirror behind her. Her hair was immaculate, as was her kimono. Her face was pale with makeup and hopefully it covered the fact that her eyes were puffy with lack of sleep. She touched a hand to the ornament in her hair, the one Heero had given her. She tried to forget that he would be in the crowd somewhere, watching her. It was no use hoping that she could be like the woman in the story - that dancing could bring back all she'd lost.

It would take more than that. And any more than that, Relena didn't have.

"Miss Relena, it's time," a voice called out across the din.

She sighed. "Alright. I'm ready."

{ { { 

"Trowa, I'm not sure about this."

The Kabuki actor surveyed the man in front of him. Despite the slight height difference - which wouldn't be noticed on stage anyway - Heero bore a strong resemblance to Trowa. Especially in the costume of a samurai of old and the stage makeup befitting his part.

Well, Trowa reflected, it was really _his_ part. 

"Don't worry, Heero, you look just like me. Or, how I would look anyway."

"That's not going to be enough, though," said Heero grimly. "I'm no actor. People will notice it."

"You've had a week to rehearse and people will see what they expect to see. On top of that, there isn't much speaking for you to do in the first few acts. Hopefully, we'll have caught Trieze by then."

"Hopefully. What did your sister say?"

"It took some persuasion but she agreed."

"And what about the other actors?"

"Well, no one knows me well enough to tell the difference. Relena might, but she's such a good actress, she won't say anything…."

Heero paled. "Did you just say Relena?"

"Yes, she'll be acting opposite you. She plays your lover. I'm sure I told you."

"No," Heero said flatly. "I can't do this."

"What!" Trowa cried. Then he remembered that even though they were alone in the room backstage, Geisha and actors were wandering around everywhere and they still weren't sure who could be trusted. And if anyone suspected that Trowa and Heero were switching places, the plan they'd so carefully worked on would be useless. "What? Why?" he said more softly.

"Relena….Relena and I have a history."

Trowa frowned. "Heero, I thought you were a bigger man than this. You've only got to be on stage with her, not marry her."

Heero nodded, Trowa was right. This was about exposing a criminal and traitor, not about his petty problems. He'd fought in many battles, surely he could put aside his problems for one night.

"Fine."

"Excellent," said Trowa. Then he cocked his head to one side, listening. "By the sounds of it, that the end of the Spring Dance section. You'd best get going. And I better return to Quatre before anyone suspects anything." He adjusted his uniform jacket. "I could quite get used to being a soldier, you know."

Heero grinned. "Don't."

"That dangerous?"

"That's not it. You're already stretching out my clothes as it is."

"Why, Heero," said Trowa, smiling. "If I didn't know any better, I'd say you just made a joke."

"Trowa, I have no idea what you're talking about."

{ { { 

"That last dance was beautiful. Don't you think so, Mister Quatre?"

Quatre turned his attention back to Mariemaia and tried to smile. She was a sweet girl after all, and his personal guest, so the least he could do was pay her more attention. That was hard, though, when his eyes were constantly scanning the crowd in the theatre for anyone who looked like they didn't belong. It was easy from where he sat: a private alcove along one of the side walls, it was reserved for those of privilege. Speaking of which…

"Where did you say your parents were, Mariemaia? I'm anxious to see them."

The young girl waved a hand dismissively. "Oh, Mother and Father went to visit friends of theirs, I believe. Don't worry Mister Quatre, I don't mind being alone with you. I fully trust you. If we're to be married, I should."

Quatre sighed. _If there's anyone who shouldn't be trusted, it's your father._

"I'm back."

A figure appeared in the doorway which led from the hallways that ran behind the private alcoves. "Tr…General Yuy. We were beginning to worry about you." Quatre nodded and hoped Mariemaia hadn't noticed his little slip up - he'd almost called Trowa by his name. It wasn't that Quatre suspected Mariemaia would be involved in any of her father's plans, but it would be better for her and everyone else in the theatre to believe that General Yuy was seated beside him and not the Kabuki actor, Trowa Barton. 

"May I have a private word with you, Quatre?" Trowa asked. 

"Will you excuse us, Mariemaia?" said Quatre. When they were out in the hall he whispered, "How's Heero holding up?"

"A brief case of stage nerves, but he'll be fine. And the others?"

"Wufei is in the centre of the crowd, keeping a close eye on the stage just in case someone's worked out our little ploy. Duo is guarding the rear exits, in case anyone tries to escape when they shouldn't. I'm worried though."

"About what?"

"Neither Lord Trieze or Lady Une are anywhere to be found. Trowa, you don't think he'd go about the assassination himself?"

Trowa paused, thinking. "It would be bold of him, but perhaps that's how he prefers to deal with such things. It would be all the better for us, though, if we could catch him red-handed."

Both men returned to the alcove to find Mariemaia watching the stage with excitement. "Mister Quatre, you're back. Just in time: I've spotted father."

"Where?"

"Over there," Mariemaia said, pointing towards the main entrance to the theatre. There, half hidden by one of the massive wooden support poles, was Trieze talking to…Dorothy Catalonia! Quatre's breath hitched. "Dorothy?"

"Oh, do you know my cousin?"

Quatre couldn't have been more shocked if his arm had suddenly fallen off. He turned to Mariemaia in disbelief. "What did you just say? About your cousin?"

Mariemaia blinked in surprise at Quatre's reaction. "Dorothy Catalonia is my cousin. Well, actually, she's Father's cousin. We don't see her much, though. After her parents died, Father thought it would be best if she started working here in Kyoto. She teaches music, I believe. She always was very talented."

__

So Mariemaia doesn't know what really happened to Dorothy, thought Quatre. _But it's all falling into place. Trieze must have sold her into this…_

"Mariemaia, are your father and Dorothy close?"

The girl frowned. "I'm not sure. I really shouldn't say, but…"

"But what?"

"Well, she never writes us. Not even at New Years. And when Father comes to visit her, she never sends any word back with him which I think is a little rude."

"Quatre," hissed Trowa on his other side. "Do you realise what this means? This is why we couldn't find Trieze's spy during this last week. She was under our nose all the time."

"No, not Dorothy. She wouldn't. We'll talk to her: maybe she can help us."

Trowa sighed at his friend's naïveté. "Very well." He turned to where the woman in question had been standing. There was no one there. 

"If we can find her, that is."

{ { { 

Relena held her hand high in the air, the fan open, waiting, calming herself. The fact that Trowa was nowhere to be found as they were about to perform worried her, but she told herself there was nothing she could do now and that he would be here in time for his part. All she could do now was stand there, in the centre of the stage, waiting for the screen to rise, revealing her to the audience.

The music started, the screen rose. Suddenly, Relena was confronted with hundreds of faces, all fixed on her. But she saw none of them: her face blank, she began the carefully rehearsed steps of her dance.

As the dance progressed, in some part of her mind, Relena allowed herself to sympathise with the part she was playing. She was a princess, in love with a samurai warrior who was below her class and thus, out of her reach. But by a chance of fate, they'd met and fallen in love. Now she was singing her love as she waited for her samurai to return from a mission that - ironically - her father, the Emperor, had sent him on.

The song drew towards an end and Relena dropped slowly to the floor and closed her eyes, where she would lie as if asleep. At this point, Relena held her breath. This was when Trowa - her lover - was meant to appear from the stage right, clasping his heart as he died from a wound to the chest. To her delight, right on time, she heard the few strained lines he gave before he 'died'. But they sounded wrong…different, somehow, from what they'd practiced. Sadder, almost. She would've given anything to open her eyes, but she was meant to remain 'asleep' until her lover collapsed beside her and she awoke to find him dead in her arms.

The music reached it's climax and Relena felt the soft thud of Trowa falling 'dead' beside her. She opened her eyes and, with a soft cry of lament, took him into her arms.

Only to freeze in horror.

The man she was holding, the man she'd found lying beside her on the stage, wasn't Trowa.

It was Heero.

{ { { 

Quatre couldn't sit still. At any other time, he'd be enraptured by Relena's dancing and singing, but not now. Not with thoughts of Dorothy as a traitor running around in his head, threatening to drive him crazy.

"I'll be right back," he said, standing.

"But Mister Winner, you'll miss the important part," protested Mariemaia.

"I won't be a moment."

But out in the corridor, things weren't any clearer to him. In fact, without the distractions of the performance, he felt even more confused.

"You look perplexed, Mister Winner."

He looked up in shock. "Miss Dorothy?"

Well, it looked like Miss Dorothy, for the most part. But her face was drawn, haggard-looking and her eyes were half-closed, as if she were asleep on her feet.

"Miss Dorothy, are you alright?"

"No, Quatre," she said, sadly. "I am not alright."

The use of his first name was almost as disconcerting as her words. "Why? Does this have something to do with Trieze Kushrenada?"

Dorothy laughed bitterly. "I should have guessed you'd figure it out. Did Mariemaia tell you or did you work it out for yourself? No matter. It won't change anything now. It's too late for me."

"Dorothy…?"

He never got to say anymore. Suddenly, as if she were a puppet whose strings had been cut, Dorothy collapsed, her eyes rolling back in her head. It was only thanks to good reflexes that Quatre was able to catch her before she hit the floor.

"Dorothy! What's wrong?"

She stirred in his arms and blinked in awareness. "Poison," she said weakly. "Trieze must have known…I'd betray him. Quatre, I'm dying."

"No," he said, desperately, blinking back tears. "You won't. I won't let you."

Dorothy smiled. "Not your fault," she gasped out. "I choose this. I couldn't kill Heero Yuy. Trieze wanted me to but I told him I couldn't do it. Still, I think I've accidentally betrayed you anyway." She struggled for air and Quatre told her not to go on but she defied him. "I looked towards your alcove and I saw Trowa dressed as Heero. It must have shown on my face. Trieze must know something is going on."

"Dorothy, save your strength. Don't talk."

"You're right," she told him, again in that eerily calm tone. "Too much time has been wasted on talk." With one hand, she grasped the edges of his kimono, pulling him towards her. When he was so close he could feel her breathing, she kissed him, pressing her lips softly against his. Then, just as suddenly, the movement stopped.

"Dorothy?"

She was lying still in his arms, and her skin was horribly cold to the touch.

"No! Dorothy!" Quatre slumped against her, holding her close. Then arms were around him, pulling him away. Voices were talking, but he couldn't make out the words. He didn't even know where he was anymore. Shock, he realised in amazement. This was the beginnings of shock.

"Quatre…Quatre, what happened?"

He blinked and Trowa's face came into focus. The other man was bent over Dorothy, checking for a pulse. Beside him, Mariemaia was blinking in disbelief.

"Poison," Quatre murmured. 

"Her heart's still beating. There may be time yet. What kind of poison?"

"I don't know. I don't know."

Mariemaia was bending down now, also, looking curiously at Dorothy's pale face and sniffing. "It smells like silver berry."

"What?"

She sniffed the air some more. "Yes, that's definitely silver berry. It grows on our property and I'd know the smell anywhere. It's very distinctive, very sweet."

"Is there an antidote?" asked Quatre, grabbing Mariemaia's arms.

"Yes," she told him confidently. "And I know how to make it. But I need to get supplies and we have to go somewhere to prepare it."

Trowa began to pick up Dorothy but Quatre stopped him.

"Let me take her."

"Are you sure you're up to it? You were nearly passed out a second ago."

"I'm fine now," said Quatre and he did, indeed, feel stronger. He had to be: Dorothy needed him. "I'll take her and go with Mariemaia. You go tell Heero that Trieze is on to the plan. Get him somewhere safe until we can think of a new strategy. But we may already be too late."

{ { { 

The screen fell and the stage was plunged into darkness. As soon as she was sure she wouldn't be seen from the crowd, Relena dropped Heero as if he'd burnt her.

"What in the name of the Gods do you think you're doing?"

"Relena, I can see you're upset," Heero whispered into the dark. "But I don't have time to explain."

"Explain what exactly? There's so much to explain. Like what are you doing here? And where is Trowa?"

"Shhh."

Relena placed her hands on her hips. "No, I will not be quiet…"

"Relena, I think I hear something."

Suddenly, Relena went quiet and her senses went into overdrive. It occurred to her that they were in the dark and may possibly be the only people within 20 metres. The hair on the back of her neck stood up and her skin broke out in goosebumps.

Then she heard it: the shuffling of feet. Just a few seconds before something hard and heavy made contact with the back of her neck and she fell to the floor, unconscious.

{ { { 

Wufei saw Trowa's signal and moved straightaway, edging his way along the side of the theatre and up onto the stage.

"Hey," a woman's voice called. "What do you think you're doing?"

Wufei opened his mouth to speak when Trowa appeared at the woman's side. "It's okay, Cathy, he's a friend. Could you turn on the stage lights for me?"

"What? But the second act isn't ready to go yet and the screen is still down. And I can't find Relena or your other friend, either. I didn't see them leave the stage."

"Quick, turn on the lights."

Cathy shrugged and did so. As the stage was flooded with light Wufei swore. "Dammit, we were too late."

Lying there, in the centre of the stage was Heero, flat on his stomach and obviously unconscious. Relena was nowhere to be found.

"Heero," Trowa said, running over. He placed his hand against the man's back to turn him over and stopped.

"What is it?"

Trowa raised his hand. It was covered in blood. On closer inspection, both men could now see that Heero had been stabbed in the middle of his lower back. "We have to get him out of here," said Trowa.

"Trieze must have been and gone. And where is the woman…Relena?"

Trowa frowned. "I don't know. One thing at a time. I'll take care of Heero - you go find Duo and meet me at the Ichikoko Teahouse. And hurry: Trieze is already one step ahead of us. We can't afford to waste any more time."

Author's Note: Ooooh, intrigue. Now what? Although I must apologise for putting Heero in a costume and on stage, of all things. But in a strange way, I kinda had a giggle at that. And trust me, there may not be any chance to giggle in the next chapter. Relena's kidnapped...Heero's injured. Honestly, how are they going to get out of this? Please Review! 


	11. Fears

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Author: Fallen Angel fallen_angel_2012@hotmail.com

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Rating: PG-13 for now, but may contain R material later on.

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Disclaimer: I don't own Gundam Wing and am making no money from this. Don't sue.

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Author's Note: Thank you so much to all who reviewed this story so far. I've made it to over 100 reviews on fanfiction.net and am so happy I'm going to post this next chapter earlier than I planned. The tension is really rising now and things are getting exciting. Some things will be lost, others found. I hope you enjoy it!

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Chapter 11: Fears

{ 

"Mister Winner, I have something to tell you."

Quatre raised his head slowly. He didn't want to take his eyes away from Dorothy for a minute, in case, in her sleep, she suddenly stopped breathing. But Mariemaia had given her the antidote, and she was sleeping soundly in her own bed now, so hopefully the worst was behind them.

"What is it, Mariemaia?"

Sitting opposite him on the other side of Dorothy's bed, Mariemaia smiled. "I'm going to call off the plans for our wedding, if that's okay with you."

"Have I done something wrong?"

Mariemaia shook her head. "Falling in love is never wrong," she said, with a wisdom beyond her years. "You're a very kind person, and I think that's why you tried to hide from me the fact that you're in love with Dorothy. But sometimes you must be cruel to be kind and this, I think, is one of those times."

"I never said I was in love with Dorothy," protested Quatre.

"But Mister Winner, you don't have to. I've been watching you say it with your eyes for the past hour now. You may not be able to say it to Dorothy and maybe she hasn't been able to say it to you, but you're in love."

"Mariemaia…I…"

She held up a hand to silence him. "Please don't try to apologise. Don't feel bad about this. I think it's romantic that you've found someone you care for so deeply. To be honest, I would much rather wait for that love myself than watch you regret losing yours."

Quatre sighed in resignation. "I suppose you're right. Thank you, Mariemaia. You will make a good wife someday."

"But not to you."

"No," he admitted, taking Dorothy's hand in his. "Not to me."

{ { { 

Duo paced the small room at the Ichikoko worriedly. "This is all my fault. If I'd only caught Trieze leaving the theatre, Miss Relena wouldn't have been kidnapped."

"As much as I'd like to blame this on you," said Wufei from where he was seated on the floor, "this isn't your fault. Trowa told me that his sister thinks there might be secret passages beneath the theatre, used by the samurai in days of old."

"It doesn't make me feel any better about what's happened. Where is Trowa, by the way?"

"He's talking to Sally and Miss Noin, trying to calm them down without giving away what's really happened. We need to keep this as quiet as possible. It was also lucky his sister, Catherine, was able to keep the show going without it's two main performers. And will you stop pacing: it's making me dizzy."

"I can't help it. I'm restless," said Duo, coming to a halt. "I feel like we should be doing something more. Let me see that note again."

Wufei handed over a small piece of paper they'd found tucked in Heero's waistband when they'd bandaged his wound. At first they'd thought it might be his, till they read it. 

__

'If you care for the wellbeing of Miss Relena, bring Heero Yuy and the seal to the Kiyomizu temple at midnight tonight.'

"Trieze must have gotten desperate when he couldn't find Heero amongst the crowd," said Duo when he'd read the note. "He probably decided that using Relena to get to him would be quicker."

Wufei scowled. "The fool didn't even realise that Heero was right beneath his nose the entire time. That costume saved his life in two ways - it protected him from a more fatal wound and disguised him. Being in the dark wouldn't have helped."

"True. And speaking of help, I'm beginning to think that Lady Une may have been helping her husband as well, from what you guys have told me."

"I wouldn't be surprised," agreed Wufei. "Everywhere I turn these days, it seems women are surprising me."

"As in Sally Po?" asked Duo, teasing.

"I don't know what you're talking about."

"Oh, come on. You hide out in her room for nearly a week, you talk about her on a first name basis…I'm not a spy for nothing."

"Hah! That's a joke," said Wufei. "Okay, Mister Spy, what does Trieze mean in this note when he says he wants the seal?"

"It's my official seal," came a voice from the hallway. There stood Heero, in a plain cotton shirt and pants, leaning against the doorway. His face was pale, but this only made the dark glare in his eyes look more obvious. The phrase, 'murder in his eyes' came to Wufei's mind.

"Heero," said Duo, rushing over to support him and help him into the room. "What are you doing up? I don't know if you've noticed, buddy, but you've been stabbed in the back. You should be lying down."

"Can't," he mumbled, "Too much to do. We have to get Relena back."

"Sure, sure," Duo said, helping Heero sit down. "But me and the others will worry about that. You're in no condition to do anything."

"How can I sit down, when this is my fault? You said it yourself before I came in: Trieze is using Relena to get to me. We have to find a way to rescue her."

"Heero, I hate to be the one to tell you this, buddy, but we don't have a leg to stand on, so to speak. You know this is gonna be a trap and if we make one wrong move…well, I don't want Relena to get hurt anymore than you do."

"What we need is a card to play," said Wufei. "You know that you can't hand over the official seal to Trieze…it's your way of giving him power to sign documents in your name. He'll kill you once he has it…make up some story about you giving it to him with your wishes. He'll bring the peace treaties to a halt in your name. Many will die and you won't be alive to stop him."

"I won't let Relena die. Not for me," said Heero grimly.

"Then you have a plan?" asked Duo. "Because without one…"

"Excuse me."

The men turned to the door and standing there was Mariemaia. "I'm sorry to interrupt," she said, "but Mister Winner wanted me to inform you that Dorothy will be alright and…and why are you looking at me like that?"

Heero's eyes were fixed on her in a mixture of amazement and satisfaction.

"Duo, I do have a plan. Mariemaia, could we speak with you for a moment?"

{ { { 

Relena awoke in the darkness.

Her head hurt abominably, like she'd had too much sake, and her vision was blurry but she could distinctly smell incense and rich pine. It smelt like…a temple? But what was she doing in a temple, especially at night - for the air was cool like nighttime. Instinctively she tried to move, to stretch her aching limbs, but found herself bound to something, her hands tied behind her.

Panic began to settle in as she struggled to grasp her last memory. She'd had to perform at the Mizuno Theatre and she'd been on stage with someone - Heero! Heero was there, that was certainly no trick of her memory. She remembered being confused at seeing him. Then they heard footsteps…Heero had warned her to be quiet when something hit her on the back of the head and she'd passed out.

But if that was the case, what was she doing here? It certainly wasn't the Mizuno. And where was Heero?

Just as she was beginning to think the worst, a light appeared in the distance and she could make out a figure carrying a torch. She could also see now that she was on the topmost level of the Kiyomizu Temple, a large construct of pagodas in pine and red tiling, bound to one of the massive pillars overlooking the valley which was Kyoto.

The figure was closer now, and Relena's eyes had cleared enough for her to see it was a man. Unfortunately, she knew straight away from the walk that it wasn't Heero. A shiver ran up her spine: this was her captor. 

"Where is Heero?" she asked the moment the man came close. 

He leaned in close to her and she could see he was well dressed: one of the more upper class of Japan. Clear, green eyes regarded her from under brown hair with a smile somewhat cold and knowing that, strangely enough, reminded Relena of Dorothy.

"I don't believe we've been introduced," the man said in a conversational tone completely out of place in the situation. "Though your reputation precedes you, Miss Relena. My name is Trieze Kushrenada."

Relena's eyes widened. "Kushrenada? Not _the_ Kushrenada. I've heard of you…what do you have to do with all this? And where is Heero?"

Kushrenada's pleasant smile faded. "Heero Yuy. That's a good question Miss Relena. I could ask you the same thing. It's why you're here after all. If you could tell me where he was, I could let you go."

The pieces began to fit together quickly enough for Relena. That was what Heero was doing in Trowa's place at the theatre: hiding. And this is who he was hiding from. With all the skill she'd gained as a geisha she kept her face expressionless.

"I have no idea where he is."

Trieze sighed. "Perhaps if I explain things to you, you'll understand why I've been driven to such drastic measures. Believe me when I say the last thing I wanted to do was involve you. But Heero Yuy is a hard man to keep track of, and I had inside sources that informed me Heero knew of my schemes."

"But why scheme at all?" asked Relena. "What has he done to you?"

"It's not what he's done, Miss Relena, it's what he's going to do. In a matter of days, he will travel to Tokyo to sign this peace treaty. I'm sure he's chosen to do this with all good intention, but in fact he will be signing the death warrant of everyone in Japan. Peace is an impossible dream, Miss Relena, and Heero Yuy's treaty will only open the doors for invasion."

"No," said Relena, shaking her head vehemently. "I believe in Heero. He can bring an end to this war, I know it."

Trieze leaned in close, so close she could smell his expensive talc. "Your naiveté is sweet, Miss Relena, but it is clouded by your feelings for Heero and feelings I know he returns. That is why I have brought you here. I must bend Heero to my will. I must possess his official seal. He cannot sign the treaty without it."

"He won't listen to you."

A slight look of sadness and pity crossed Trieze's face. "Then he will have to die."

{ { { 

Quatre looked upon the still sleeping form of Dorothy Catalonia. He wasn't sure if she could hear him - in fact, he highly doubted it - but if she could, he wanted her to know where he was going. 

In case he never came back.

"Dorothy," he whispered, holding her hand in his, "Dorothy, I have to go now. I have to go with the others to rescue Relena and stop Trieze. I just wanted you to know…in case something happens to me…I do love you. I've called off my marriage to Mariemaia. I meant what I said the other day: I could never love anyone else the way I love you." He leant over and kissed her softly on the lips. "I just wanted you to know that."

"I already…knew."

Quatre lifted his head in surprise. Dorothy's eyes were slowly opening, their clear blue-grey depths focused on him.

"Dorothy!"

She didn't return his smile. "What happened?"

Quatre took a deep breath. "You were poisoned. Trieze knew that you couldn't go through with his plans. But Mariemaia is here and she was able to make an antidote." He paused. "I know she's your cousin. I know Trieze betrayed you and that he was trying to use you as a spy against Heero."

Dorothy nodded slowly. "I see. But there's more you aren't telling me."

Her voice was strong again, but Quatre was still afraid. For all she was, for all she'd known and experienced, he couldn't deny that he wanted to protect her from the evils of the world. Something in his face must have shown this, because her hand tightened on his.

"Quatre, for too long we thought we were protecting ourselves by not saying what we felt. Now I see so much pain could have been spared if we had."

"You're right." He sighed. "It seems Trieze has taken Relena captive. Heero must meet with him tonight at the Kiyomizu temple with his official seal."

Dorothy shot up in bed. "What? No, he can't!"

"Dorothy, try and relax. We do have a plan. Mariemaia is here and has agreed to help us…we're going to make a trade."

"No!" The blonde woman tightened her musician's fingers around Quatre's so tightly it almost hurt. "You can't trust Trieze. He'll know you're planning something: even if you weren't, he would never play fair. Not when there's this much at stake."

"Even when his own daughter is concerned?" Quatre couldn't imagine such a thing.

"He involved his wife, didn't he? You know Lady Une is his right-hand woman: she was probably the one who got to Relena. You don't understand Trieze at all; if he believes it to be right, he will do anything. And he has spies everywhere! He knew about…" Dorothy clamped her mouth shut but it was too late.

"He knew about what?" Quatre narrowed his eyes at her and for the first, but not the last time, Dorothy saw that there was more fire in the young businessman than she'd thought. Strangely enough, she was both frightened and thrilled by that: the potential that deep down, the man she loved had a fire that could match her own, even better, surpass it.

And she did love him. And if she was to believe he loved her, he needed to know the truth about her. "I suppose there's no point holding back," she admitted. "If things don't turn out as I hope they will, all of Kyoto will know soon enough. Did I ever tell you I had a danna, Quatre?"

"I knew I suppose. Trowa told me he wasn't a very kind man."

She laughed: bitterly, almost painfully. "Wasn't very kind? That's an understatement. He was cruel, Quatre, like a man who buys a wild horse just to see its spirit broken. Don't get me wrong, not all men are like this. But this man was young, as was I, and just a little insane and drunk with his own power."

A lump developed in Quatre's throat as a cold pit of hate grew in his stomach. "What…what did he do?"

She turned her face away from his. "At the time I didn't realise it was wrong, what he did: putting me down, hurting me when we…" she closed her eyes and Quatre knew all to well what she was trying to say. "I was too young to know it wasn't meant to hurt and too embarrassed to ask. I thought, somehow, that it was my fault, that I was always displeasing him and that I must not be ready to be a geisha if my danna was always criticising me. But as time passed and I spoke quietly to other geisha I discovered the truth: my danna was a sadist."

Quatre made a hissing noise of anger but Dorothy kept going. If she stopped now, she would never find the courage to go on.

"One night we were…we were in his room at one of the inns…and he, well he was being himself, I guess. By now I'd learnt how to partition my mind elsewhere when he was causing me pain: I would play shamisen in my head, or walk with my father in the woods near my home. This night, though, my danna must have known what I was doing and he was more brutal than ever, in ways I would much rather not mention. And I guess I just lost control…the next thing I knew, I was above him, strangling him. He wasn't expecting it and I had so much built up anger. He died very quickly."

"You…you killed him?" Quatre's eyes were wide but Dorothy couldn't see them. She couldn't even bear to look at him, to see him seeing her for what she really was.

She nodded. "I had one of the other geisha I trusted help me dispose of the body. After that I worked harder than ever to pay off my debts: I was already popular and an accomplished shamisen player. And then…well, you know the rest. I never told anyone and when the reports came out that he'd gone missing, I secretly spread rumours about him running away with a woman of the night he'd met in Kyoto. The family was so afraid of scandal, they dropped the investigation." She raised her eyes to Quatre's. "Now you know. Are you still so sure you love me?"

Quatre didn't reply, only laced his fingers through hers, never meeting her gaze. "And you're sure he's dead?"

"Yes."

"Then that's a good thing, or I would have killed him myself." Finally, he raised his eyes to hers and she saw the anger there and - even more amazing - the understanding. "No one should be forced to do what you had to do, Dorothy. And it doesn't change how I feel about you. If anything, I admire you even more for enduring it for so long."

Dorothy's grey-blue eyes widened but she couldn't find words for how she felt.

Quatre laughed. "It seems, Dorothy, I have finally found a way to render you speechless."

Her eyes narrowed mock-menacingly. "It's Miss Dorothy to you, or have you forgotten, Mister Winner? And I am never 'rendered speechless'."

"Oh, really? Then, Miss Dorothy, or perhaps, Mrs. Winner, I am asking you to marry me. What do you say to that?"

And once again, Dorothy was speechless. Although this time, it was because her lips were far too busy kissing Quatre's to bother with something like words.

After all, Dorothy had always believed actions said so much more…

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Author's Note: That was horrible about Dorothy's danna, I know, and in no way meant to represent what really happens. However, in all aspects of life, there are men who do not respect women and it seemed the best way to explain Dorothy's initial inability to trust….


	12. Kiyomizu

Disclaimer: Not mine, don't sue.

Author's Note: Sorry about the long wait guys, exams at uni are such a killer and I really had to study.  Really.  Anyway, on with the story.

**Chapter 12: Kiyomizu**

{

Relena knew Kiyomizu temple well.  In spring and autumn, at New Years, she had attended the festivals, had bathed in the golden glow of the lanterns, had danced on the main platform she now stood on, had stood before the shrines and asked for the safe return of her brother and good luck to her family through the year.

This was not, she was sure, the Kiyomizu she knew.

It was cold, dark, menacing and…in a way which meant more than a lack of people present…empty.

The main platform seemed dark, abandoned.  Behind her, the mountain loomed up like a shadow.  To her right, the main temple section of Kiyomizu also seemed like a mountain, threatening to fall atop her.  Beneath her, she could hear the mountain stream rushing along on its way to the Kamo River.  She leaned over the railing just slightly to see it, a silver snake running through a dark forest of pine, many meters below.

No, this was not the Kiyomizu temple she knew.  But then again, maybe present company had something to do with it.  She looked to her right.  Trieze was standing casually against the railing, facing the opposite direction: watching, she knew, the stone stairs leading up the mountainside to the platform on which they stood.  This was the only way up.  Her eyes fell on Trieze's sword at his left and the pistol tucked into his obi on the right and had the horrible thought of what would happen if Trieze decided to use his weapons on Heero.  She shivered subconsciously.

"Cold, my dear?"

 Relena levelled a cold glare at him.  "The only thing that leaves me cold, Kushrenada, is being in your presence."

"Harsh words from someone brought up in the flower and willow world."

"As one from the flower and willow world, I have been taught how to treat someone with tact and gentle understanding.  And never in all my years there have I met someone so undeserving of either."

Her words seem to jolt Trieze and he stood up straighter.  "It is a shame you do not believe in our cause, Miss Relena.  Someone with your strength of character would be a great asset to our fight for peace."

"Peace?" Relena asked.  "The only man who is capable of bringing about peace is Heero Yuy and all you want to do is stop him.  No, Kushrenada, the path you walk is one to war.  The worst thing is, you take us all with it.  Heero Yuy's life is worth more than any of ours because his being alive means the lives of many innocent Japanese.  Even many innocent Chinese and Russians."

Trieze sighed.  "So be it.  You are wise, Miss Relena, but you do not think the way a soldier does."

"And you do?"

"I was a soldier once too," Trieze said, and for all his lies, Relena knew he was telling the truth.  "I led men into war, and I lost them.  We – more than anyone else – long for peace.  But Heero does not realize that the blood of a soldier still runs though many people's veins: our own, and our enemies.  It even runs though his, though he has tried to bury it…" he looked sideways at Relena.  "…perhaps in the softness of a woman's arms."

His head reeled back from the slap Relena had given him, the red mark visible in the pale moonlight.

"You are no gentleman," she said, her voice low and threatening.  "To speak of such things."

Trieze's green eyes hardened.  "You are wrong, Miss Relena," he said, and before she could even move, even react, his sword was at her throat, his other arm holding her shoulders so she could not move.  "I am a gentleman.  But I am also a desperate man.  And if Heero Yuy doesn't show up soon, I shall have to do something desperate.  Though I would hate to have to do something before he arrives."

"Get your hands off her, Trieze, or you won't be the only one forced to do something desperate."

Trieze spun around, taking Relena with him.  But she didn't need to see who was standing behind them to know who it was: she would have recognized the voice anywhere.

Heero.

And he wasn't the only one.  Behind him, also half-hidden by the shadow of the mountain behind them, were four men and – if Relena was any guess of stature and body language – a young woman.

None of this seemed to have escaped Trieze's attention either.  "I told you to come alone, Yuy.  Step out of the shadows.  All of you."

They did and Relena saw a mixed – though all equally determined – group of young men.  Some she recognized…Quatre was there, as was Trowa.  One of the men, though she'd never met him, fit the description of Duo, Hilde's boyfriend.  After all, how many men in Japan had ponytails down to their waists and vivid violet eyes?  The fourth man she didn't recognize, nor the girl, who was currently being held still by Duo.  She wasn't bound, though, and didn't seem in distress.  Her eyes did seem wide, though, fixed upon Trieze.

"Father, please.  Let the geisha go and we'll just go home."

To Trieze's credit, he replied with, "Have they hurt you, Mariemaia?"

_Mariemaia, _Relena thought.  So this was Trieze's daughter.  

"No, they haven't," said Mariemaia.  "Please father, let her go."

Trieze's grip didn't losen at all.  "I can't Mariemaia.  I'm sorry, but you would not understand: so much rests on tonight, so many lives.  I do this for you.  Do not worry, though, I will not let them hurt you."

"As I will not let you hurt Relena," said Heero, his voice icy, his hand gripping the handle of his sword.  He turned to Relena then, and his tone softened.  "Are you alright?"

She shook her head.  "I'm fine.  But you shouldn't be here, Heero, it's exactly what he wants…"

Trieze's grip tightened on her shoulders.  "Silence is a virtue, Miss Relena.  And this does not concern you.  It concerns us, doesn't it, Heero?  And it seems we have a stalemate."

"If you would have it," said Heero, "I would rather let the women go and you and I may settle this as men."

Wufei mumbled something about Trieze being inhuman, but Trieze only sighed sadly.  "I'm afraid the time for such a gamble is long gone, Heero.  There was a time when I would have been happy to settle this with honour, but you have given me no choice."

Heero frowned.  "In this case, Trieze, you have no more choice than I do.  Unless you would be so callous as to risk your own daughter's life."

"I would never do such a thing."

"Heero, be careful," warned Duo, "you can't trust him."

"You have that right," said a voice at Duo's side and before he could move, his arms occupied with holding Mariemaia, there was a katana at his throat.  Out of the shadows, like a ghost from a tale of long ago, slid a tall woman in a black kimono, her brown eyes flashing.

"Lady Une!" cried Quatre as he and Trowa moved to help their friend.  But Duo stopped them.  "Don't come any closer, guys," he warned.

"Clever," said Lady Une.  "Because I am not my husband, Duo Maxwell.  I have no schemes and no intricate sense of honour.  I know only one rule of honour: protect my family at all costs.  And I come from a long line of samurai: I may be a woman, but I know how to use this katana.  If you do not unhand my daughter, I will slit your throat where you stand."

"Mother!" cried Mariemaia, obviously shocked at this side to Lady Une.

Duo looked to Heero and could see by the disappointment in the other man's eyes that they had been sadly deceived.  Lady Une's presence and skill had caught them completely off guard.  "Let her go, Duo," he said finally.

"But Heero…" Duo said.  Mariemaia was their upper hand in this.  They couldn't afford to lose her.

"I never liked the idea of involving Mariemaia anyway," said Heero. His gaze then fixed on Trieze again.  "Only a cowardly man gets what he wants by using the loved ones of others."

Resigned, Duo let Mariemaia go.  She stood there for a moment, though, unsure of what to do, bewildered by all that had happened in the last few minutes.  

"Mariemaia, go," commanded her mother. But the young girl stood still, as if she wasn't even sure this armed woman beside her even was her mother.

Finally Quatre spoke.  "It's okay, Mariemaia.  It would be better if you left now."

The girl nodded and ran off, only casting a quick glance back before reaching the stairs.

"Now," said Heero.  "I have let your daughter go, Trieze.  Release Relena."

"No."

"Damn you, Trieze," cried Wufei.  "You have no honour!"  He rushed forward, katana raised, but Une was there first, moving like the wind, her own katana out.  Their blades met with a high-pitched ring that was almost musical.

"So," said Lady Une, smiling as their blades stuck again and again, so quickly that the others didn't come to help: they could barely follow the fight, much less break it up.  It was too risky - they could just as easily hurt Wufei as Une.  "I have come face to face with the spy from China.  Chang Wufei, isn't it?  Trained by the Emperor's own secret guard.  I am glad to finally meet someone worthy of my skill."

Wufei stepped back, lowering his katana briefly to try and take Une down with a sweeping kick.  She anticipated it though, and as if her kimono weighed nothing at all, flipped over Wufei's head.  Wufei only just had time to turn and raise his blade when she was on the attack again.  "You are skilled," said Wufei, "but this fight doesn't concern you, woman."

Une seemed to bristle at this.  "Oh, so I may have all the skill of the best male warrior, but this fight does not concern me?  Heero is free to bring four men of his own but my husband may not let me fight?  Would it be better for me to stay at home and let him fight you on his own, die on his own?"  She continued to fight as she spoke, her blade flying, her drooping kimono sleeves sweeping, distracting Wufei and covering her moves.  Finally she made her final move: a sweeping blow that forced Wufei's blade to lower, followed with her arm.  With the side of her palm she struck Wufei on the neck.

The pain was lacenating, pulsing - it seemed - through Wufei's entire body.  He fell to his knees and Une took her opportunity, driving her katana through his shoulder.

"Wufei!" Quatre rushed forward to his fallen comrade's side.  Trowa pulled his own blade and moved to face Lady Une, but she didn't even raise her katana.  

"Honestly, Mr Trowa," she said.  "I have watched you many times on the stage and admire your skill.  But you and I know that this is my stage, and I am the one with greater skill."

"You may have the greater skill," said Duo from her other side.  "But I am the one with the pistol aimed at your head.  And trust me: from this distance, I will not miss.  Drop your weapon."

"Will you kill me?" asked Une, though she didn't seem very worried by it.

"No," said Duo.  "But perhaps we've made a mistake.  Maybe none of us should have gotten involved in this.  I only wish now that we had left Heero to deal with this on his own, since that's how the fates seem to have chosen it to happen."

Une smiled and turned to the American.  "Wise words, Mr Maxwell.  I see now why Heero chose you as his right-hand man.  Like me, you are not what you seem.  For that, I will do as you ask."  The clear clanging of metal falling rang out across the pagoda as Une's sword dropped to the ground.  "I hope you will also take your own advice," she added. 

"Of course."  Duo turned to Heero.  "Well, buddy, it looks like you're on your own."

"That's perfect," said Heero.  "This should've been between us all along, Trieze.  I won't have anyone else I care about put at risk for our quarrel."

"Very well," agreed Trieze.  "But there never should have been a quarrel between us, Yuy.  We are both soldiers: the same blood flows through your veins as through mine.  We are the ones who have bled for this country, died for this country, and you would now offer all we have fought for to the enemy?  I cannot have that."

Heero gritted his teeth.  "I can understand your hesitancy, Trieze, but this treaty will work.  I trust in the people's desire for peace

"Then you are a fool!" cried Trieze, one hand releasing Relena as the other gripped his katana.  With a swiftness that had made many men tremble before him in battle, he rushed at Heero.  But the younger man was just as quick and - prepared for Trieze's attack - rose his own katana in defence.  Yet - even as steel struck steel - Heero's eyes turned to meet Relena's.

"Relena, go!"

She shook her head defiantly.  "No, not without you.  Heero, stop this.  You're only going to get killed."

"Listen to your woman,Yuy," said Trieze, raising his sword high and striking blow after blow against Heero.  "I would rather not spill your blood for all the good you have done for this country but I must have your alliegance." 

Heero could not answer, so busy was he fighting off Trieze's attack.  Relena watched, fearful and puzzled.  Heero was the Emporor's general.  Surely he was the best swordsman in Japan, even if Trieze had training from his samurai wife.  And then her sharp eyes caught what only someone who knew Heero well might have spotted.  He was injured, favouring his left side.  It was slowing his motions with the sword and making blows that would have otherwise brought Trieze down merely defensive blocks.  Relena glanced at Duo and the others and she could tell they saw the same thing and were worried.

Finally, it happened; the moment she'd been dreading.  Trieze made his final blow and Heero's sword flew from his weakened grasp and slid across the floor.  Defeated and exhausted, Heero feel to his knees, his chest heaving from the effort of fighting with his injury.  But what evoked more pity in Relena than anything was the expression on his face as he looked up at Trieze, an expression of sadness as Heero watched all he'd fought for slip through his fingers.

"Do it, Trieze," he said, his voice full of resignation.  "Maybe it is for the best.  Maybe it should end this way."

"Heero, no!" Relena cried out.

"I have no wish to kill you, Heero," said Trieze, though his blade remained at the other man's throat.  "Give me the seal and I shall let you go.  You will be dishonoured in the eyes of the Emporor but you may live in peace knowing you have done the right thing."

And then the strangest sound broke the silence that had settled over all of them.  The sound of laughter.  It took Relena a second to realise that the sound was coming from Heero.

"What is it, Yuy?  Now is not the time for laughter."

"But it is," said Heero.  "I'd completely forgotten till now."

"What?  What did you forget?"

"I don't have the seal," said Heero, still laughing.  "All your effort for nothing, Trieze - I don't even have the seal."

Trieze's face went through a bizarre set of contortions as he held in his rage.  "You laugh at the risk of your neck, Yuy!  If you don't have the seal, where is it?"

Heero was still smiling.  "I gave it to a loved one.  Certainly where you will never get your dirty hands on it.  You don't honestly think I wasn't aware of your treachery?"

Trieze was the one now who bore the look of resignation and disappointment.  But quick on the heels of that was cold rage and softly, so only Relena heard, he said, "Then you will die without honour, Yuy.  There is nothing more anyone can do to save you."

She watched it all happen in slow motion.  She saw Trieze pull his pistol with his free hand, saw that the others could not see this movement from where they stood, saw that Heero had closed his eyes, ready to accept his fate.

And then, like a desperate message from her memory, she heard his words.

_I gave it to a loved one._

But Heero had told her himself he had no family, no loved ones.

No one except her, that was.

And even as her mind began to put the puzzle pieces together her hand went to her hair, to the ornament Heero had given her last week.  Though it felt like a year ago now.  At the time, she'd wondered briefly that it was so heavy for a wood ornament only, but hadn't given it any more thought.  Now, as she slid it from her hair, she felt its weight again and was sure of it.  With trim nails, she felt around the edge of the flowers, finding a seam in the wood, tugging…

It fell open in her palm and there, within the circular wood that had formed the body of the ornament, was a tiny but intricately carved piece of wood, the characters on it so well-defined Relena could read them even in the dim light.

On the right, the character for Yuy.

On the left, Heero.

The seal.

"Trieze!" she cried out, finally finding her voice.

He raised his head, the gun still poised at his side.  "Begging for your lover's life, Miss Relena?"

She ignored his taunt.  "I have the seal Trieze.  Let Heero go."  

"I see.  Or you'll do what?"

Relena stepped back to the edge of the platform and held her arm over the railing.  "Or I'll drop this seal into the river below."

Trieze narrowed his gaze, then raised his pistol.  Not to Heero's head this time, though, but to hers.  "I think, Miss Relena, you will do no such thing."

His heart gripped in fear, Heero turned to Relena.  "Relena, you don't know what you're saying.  Do as he asks.  Give him the seal."

"Listen to him, Miss Relena," said Trieze.  "Your courage is admirable but it tries my patience.  Give me the seal."

Relena's hand tightened on the seal, her gaze dropping to the river below.  It was flowing strongly, fed by the melting snow of the mountains.  Then her gaze went to Trieze, to the gun pointed at her heart.  Then finally, she saw Heero, the man she loved, the man who could bring them all peace if only given a chance.  And with a sense of purpose Relena never knew she had, she understood what it was she had to do.

"Never."

"What?" Trieze was incredulous.

"Relena, no!"

But Relena would not be swayed.  "Do you take me for a fool, Trieze?" she asked.  "If I give you this seal, I sign Heero's death warrant.  Once you have the seal, he cannot be allowed to live.  Only with his death would you be able to use the seal, to take his authority. While he lives, he may yet challenge you.  But without the seal, you must hope to sway Heero to your cause and you will certainly need him alive for that."

Trieze sighed.  "You are too clever for your own good, Miss Relena.  As it is, you have forced me to make a choice: his life or yours."

"Relena!" cried Heero, desperately.  She could see he was dying to move but couldn't for Trieze's sword.    "Don't do this.  Give him the seal, please."

Relena smiled at her love sadly.  "I'm sorry, Heero, but your life is worth more than mine.  I am only a butterfly, to come and go like the seasons.  But you need to live on."

"No," tears were gathering in his eyes.  "Relena, I love you…"

She smiled.  "I know."

And with that, she closed her eyes, opened her hand and dropped the seal.

{

Heero could only watch it happen as if in some bizarre nightmare. 

Trieze's curse of anger as he saw the seal fall, his almost instinctive pulling of the trigger.  Heero saw Relena stumble from the blow of the bullet, her body forced back against the railing, her eyes widening in pain, then closing slowly.  And then, in horror, he saw the railing give way, her body begin to fall.  Taking advantage of Trieze's distraction, he stumbled to his feet, ran to her.  

He was but a meter away when Relena fell, reaching out for her but unable to grasp her.  She fell over the edge and then was gone.

Pain shot through him like a dagger wound and he fell to his knees, crying out in agony.

"Releeeeeeeeeenaaaaaaaaaa!"  Heero's cry was like a knife cutting though the silence, echoing out over the night sky.  But it was too late.  She was gone, the broken railing the only sign she'd ever been there.

No one moved.  No one knew what to do.

No one except Heero.

The rage rushed through him, moving his body before his mind had even come to terms with what had happened.

He picked up his fallen sword and went for Trieze like a man possessed.  Trieze only just had time to raise his own katana in defence before Heero was on him, his strokes strong and deadly, each one a potentially fatal blow.  Trieze, bewildered and unnerved by this side to Heero, raised his pistol. But Heero was there first, wrenching it out of his hand and sliding it into his own belt. 

"You have enough blood on your hands, Trieze," he hissed.  "I will not let you add mine until I've had my revenge."

And for the first time in his life, Trieze was afraid. Because he knew that Heero wasn't fighting now as a general, nor as a soldier, but as a man…a man who had lost the only thing in this world he had ever loved.  

Heero knew this too, and the knowledge fuelled his hate, so much so that it was not long before Trieze's sword was brutally knocked from his hand, his fingers bleeding from Heero's blow.

"Heero…have mercy…" the older man begged, holding his injured hand, his eyes wide.

"Mercy?" Heero laughed, a cold, chilling sound that sent shivers down the spines of everyone present.  "You would now beg for my mercy, Trieze.  Very well, I will be fair.  I shall let you live."

"Thank you…"

"But your wife will die."  And with that, Heero raised his pistol and aimed it at Lady Une's head.  She didn't move, fearful of setting him off.  For it seemed to her, as it did to the others, that Heero had gone insane.

"Heero," it was Duo who said this, very carefully.  "I don't think you wanna do that."

"Why shouldn't I?" asked Heero, though it was directed at Trieze this time.  "You killed the one thing I loved.  Why would it be unfair for me to kill that which you love?"

Trieze was shaking now at Heero's words.  "General Yuy, I beg you…"

"Then would you give your life for hers?" asked Heero.  He turned the pistol back on Trieze and levelled his gaze at him, the brown depths of his eyes so dark they were almost black.  Cold.  Black.  Empty.  "Answer me, Trieze.  Would you sacrifice everything you are, everything you've worked for…for her?  Would you die for her?"

"Yes," Trieze answered without blinking, without thinking.  "In a heartbeat."

"Then you know how I feel."  Heero sighed, his anger dying.  With a tiredness that seemed beyond his years, he let the pistol fall to the ground.  He then turned to his men. "Trowa, Quatre, take Lady Une and this…creature…away.  I don't care where.  Just make sure they are safely detained.  Any attempt to escape, Trieze, and not even the mercy of the Gods will save you.  Do you understand?  I have let you live tonight, beyond all my want to see you die.  You would be wise not to give me a second chance."

Trieze nodded solemnly.  "I understand."

As Trowa and Quatre led the two away, Heero went to the edge of the platform.  Seeing him, Duo left his place beside Wufei.

"Heero, buddy…um…you aren't going to do anything stupid, are you?"

Heero remained where he was, his hand against the broken wood of the railing, gripping it so hard the splinters made little cuts in the palm of his hand.  But he barely felt them.  He could have swallowed the splinters and it wouldn't hurt nearly as much as he was hurting now.  He blinked and his vision blurred.  Surprised, he raised one hand to his eyes and it came away damp.  Tears.  His tears.  In all his time in battle he had cried for no one.  Their sacrifice had been noble, he'd told himself.  Why couldn't he feel that way now?  Was it so different when you loved the person?

Yes, his heart answered.  Excruciatingly so.

"Um…Heero?"

Finally Heero registered that his friend was still waiting for an answer.

"Don't worry Duo.  She died to save my life,"  he said.  "The last thing I would do is waste her gift."

"Heero…" Duo went to comfort his friend, then thought the better of it.  Words seemed so pitiful now.  Yet he felt like he had to say them anyway, to fill the awkward silence that had fallen around them.  "Heero, I'm so sorry."

There was no response for so long that Duo thought maybe Heero hadn't heard him.  It was only when he began to make his way back to Wufei that he heard the reply.  It was said with such remorse, such heartbreaking honesty, that Duo could barely believe it had come from Heero's mouth.

"Not nearly as much as I am, Duo.  Not nearly."

**Translations:**

The flower and willow world: another name for the geisha districts in Japan.

Author's Note: Okay, please don't kill me for that ending…there's more, I swear…guys…put down the guns…*starts running away*  Hey, I said I was sorry….*Turns back quickly*  But please leave a review, k?


	13. Heaven

**Author: **Fallen Angel, fallen_angel_2012@hotmail.com

**Disclaimer: **Don't own, don't sue.

**Author's note:** Okay, guys, due to the revisions to fanfiction.net, I can't post this as it was originally written, that is, containing lemon. *cough* free speech my ass *cough*  It seems that sex between two consenting, heterosexual adults is not fit for posting.  So, to my dismay, and I'm sure yours, you are about to read the edited version.  For the full version, please go to my author profile and go to one of the sites where my fics are posted.  Huge apologies to all.  I'm as disappointed as you are, since I worked all night on that lemon scene.  *hears snickering in the background*  Not in that way, you dirty people. :P

Chapter 13: Heaven 

{

Cold.

It surrounded her, touching every part of her, filling her lungs and chilling her blood.

_Death,_ thought Relena.  _So this is what death is like._

In her mind's eye, she saw the faces of her loved ones.  Milliardo's stern but caring big-brother expression, Noin's motherly one, Hilde's laughing smile…

Heero's eyes.

She saw them so clearly, she almost believed they were in front of her.  Although that was stupid, she thought, she was dead…dying, anyway…drowning in the cold waters of the stream she had fallen into.  And Heero was still alive.

But how was he so clear in front of her, if he wasn't also a spirit, reaching out his hand towards her?  He was so close, the warmth of him, the smell of him…like wood and spice and something else… Without thinking she reached out her hand towards him…

And felt fingers close around her own!

"Relena!" A voice was calling and suddenly two hands were firmly around her wrist, pulling her, dragging her away from the darkness.  

"Relena!"  The voice called again, and suddenly the coldness around her was gone and she felt air upon her face. Gratefully, instinctively, she gulped for sweet breath as she felt her body pulled from the water and onto solid ground.  As she coughed up cold water, she raised her face and saw the last people in the world she expected to see.

Hilde was there, supporting her.  Beside her sister were Noin and Sally.  Relena blinked.  Was she dreaming?

"How…?" she murmured when she could breathe again.

Hilde spoke first.  "You're really lucky I can't keep my nose out of other people's business.  Otherwise I wouldn't have been suspicious over where Duo was going tonight."

"So much so," continued Noin, "that she came to us, worried that there was something bad happening.  Sally and I had felt the same thing when you disappeared midway through the show, even though Trowa Barton had assured us everything was fine.  He told us you were with Heero Yuy but no one had seen either of you for hours."

At the mention of Heero's name, everything came back to Relena in a rush: standing at Kiyomizu, decided between her life and Heero's, making her choice…A hand went to her middle, where the bullet had hit her.

But her hand came away clean.  No blood.  In fact, now that she thought about it, besides feeling cold and half-drowned, she felt pretty good for someone who'd been shot.

"Relena?" asked Sally, upon seeing the look on the younger woman's face, "Is everything all right?"

"I…" Relena shook her head in confusion.  "I was shot.  That was why I fell: the force of the bullet threw me back and the railing gave way but…but there's no wound."

Hilde raised the lantern she was holding over Relena's middle and smiled.  "You were shot all right and you would have been dead if not for this."  And with that, she pulled Relena's dancer's fan - a vital prop for any geisha - from where she'd tucked it into her obi.  Made of pale cream silk and bamboo, it was mostly too frail to stop a bullet.  Except for the lining on either end, which had been made of a thin, shimmering layer of onyx.  Now, a thin, narrow crack shattered it where the bullet had hit and been lodged.

Noin whistled.  "I swear, Relena, the gods must work overtime watching over you."

But Relena wasn't even listening.  Her gaze had gone upwards, focused on the pagodas of Kiyomizu.  "Oh my god," she said suddenly.  "Heero!  I have to go to him.  He may be in danger.  Or he may think I'm…I'm dead.  I have to let him know I'm alright."  She attempted to stand, but Noin stopped her.

"Relena, you're in no condition to go anywhere.  We need to get you home and into some warm clothing."

"Noin…" But even as Relena said it, she could feel her teeth chattering.  Whether because of shock or temperature, she couldn't tell, but it made her realise that she couldn't make it back up the mountain in this condition.

Sally put a hand on Relena's shoulder.  "Don't worry.  I'll go find Heero and tell him you're alive and well."

Relena nodded.  "Thank you, Sally.  I only pray you find him the same way."

{

Wufei tensed.  "Wait."

Duo froze, the arm not supporting Wufei going to the pistol at his belt.  With his good hand, Wufei had also reached for his katana.

"What is it?"

"I heard something," said Wufei softly.  "A noise in the bushes."

Duo looked around him, suddenly finding the woodlands beside the path down the mountain ominous and dark.  He also realised how alone he and Wufei were, and how susceptible to attack.  Quatre and Trowa would be a long way ahead by now, bringing a bound and humbled Trieze and Une with them.  "Uh," said Duo hesitantly.  "Maybe it's an animal."

Wufei sighed.  "Wait here, I'll go investigate.  Animal, my foot." 

"But you're injured," said Duo.  "Don't be so stubborn."

But it was too late.  Wufei had stumbled off into the trees.  "Humph," said Duo with a shrug.  "And to think he called me crazy."

Not far away, Wufei heard the American muttering but blocked it out of his mind.  In fact, by breathing deeply and calling on all his training, he was even able to block out the pain of his injury.  He blocked out everything by the sound of his prey.  Because _it_ was the prey now.  Whoever it was - if they were following Wufei and Duo - seemed unaware that they were the ones now being followed.  

Biding his time, Wufei waited until he was positive he'd been undetected.  Then, with little more the sound of metal cutting through air, he brought his katana to the throat of his prey…

…and found himself face to face with the last person he'd expected to see here.

The last person he'd expected to see ever again.

Sally Po.

"Wufei!" she cried happily, barely noticing the katana at her throat, the katana that - a few inches more - would have killed her.

She may not have noticed it, but Wufei did with a start and sheathed his weapon.  "Sally!  Damn it, woman, I could've killed you!"

"But you didn't, so don't worry about it."  A smile brightened her face.  "You are a sight for sore eyes."

"I wish I could say the same, Sally," said Wufei, "but this is no place for a woman to be wandering alone at night."

"Look who's talking about being alone in the woods.  What are you doing here, anyway?"

"Sally…" his instinct…his training…told him to lie, to keep the truth from her.  And then he saw before him, like a waking nightmare, the death of Relena.  Like Heero, he'd felt the anger and frustration and bitter guilt that there had been nothing he could do to save her.  But now, with the woman he loved right in front of him, all he could feel was fortunate he would have the chance to say all the things Heero would never be able to.

"Yes Wufei?"

He cleared his throat.  "Sally, there's something I have to tell you.  Something I've wanted to tell you for a long time.  You were right at the beginning: I'm not a soldier.  Not exactly.  I'm a…well, I suppose you'd say I'm a spy.  I was sent here to protect Heero Yuy, by the Emperor of China."  He took a deep breath.  Why was this always the hardest part to say?  Was it because, to him, it was what would always put the largest distance between him and those around him?  "The Emporor is my uncle."

Sally nodded.  "I thought it might be something like that," she said, "after Hilde told me you were involved in all this."  She cocked her head to one side, examining his face.  "Why were you so hesitant to tell me?  Were you afraid it would change the way I feel about you?"

Wufei couldn't meet her eyes.  Hearing it from her mouth made him feel guilty for not realising if there was one person in the world he could have trusted with his identity, it was Sally.  If there was one thing he'd learnt about her in the time he'd known her, one thing he would carry with him for all time, was that she saw people for who they really were, for the honour and integrity inside their soul.

Seeing his reaction, Sally reached out her hand to his.  "Wufei, don't feel bad.  There are many people in this world who would have judged you or deceived you, knowing you had money and power.  But I saw who you were in the alley that night, and though I didn't understand it at the time, I felt like you showed me who you really were by trying to see who I really was.  And I don't know about you, but I saw someone like me…someone afraid to trust, for whatever reason, someone afraid to love."  She placed her hand against Wufei's face and the warmth of it on such a cold night gave Wufei more comfort than he could explain in words.  He turned his face into her palm, closing his eyes and breathing deeply of the scent of her skin.  "Wufei, whatever you could have said to me tonight wouldn't have changed how I feel about you.  To me, it wouldn't matter if you were royalty or a pauper, I would still love you."

Wufei's eyes opened immediately at the words but he didn't turn his face to hers.  Deep down, he was afraid…afraid that he would meet her eyes and see the slightest trace that she was lying.  

"Wufei?"  She tilted his face to hers, but he kept his eyes averted.  

An age seemed to pass and then, softly, her lips were on his, warm and caressing, but gentle still, hesitant and fearful all at once.  It was all that was needed to reassure Wufei he wasn't dreaming this and, suddenly, he was kissing her back, hungrily.  Sally moaned, breaking away from the kiss and throwing her head back.  Wufei took the opportunity and ran soft kisses down her neck to the gap at her collarbone where her kimono opened.  

"Oh, Wufei," she gasped, clutching at him…

"Argh!" he cried and Sally let go of Wufei as if he had burnt her.  

"Wufei, what is it?  What did I do?"

He was clutching at his right shoulder and wincing.  "Not your fault," he gasped, smiling wryly.  "I guess I forgot.  I should have warned you." 

"By the gods, Wufei," Sally said, leaning in close to examine him.  "You're wounded.  What happened?  I can't believe I didn't check no one had been hurt."

Wufei's head snapped up.  In the shock of seeing Sally here he'd forgotten that she was Relena's 'Okaasan'.  How was he going to tell her what had happened?  She would be devastated.  "Sally, there's something you need to know."

"Hey, Wufei!  Buddy, are you okay?!"

A choice few Chinese words left Wufei's lips in a curse.  "Damn that American, he has the worst sense of timing.  I'm over here, Duo!"

There was a crashing noise as Duo fell through some pine bushes.  "Ow, that hurt," he said, picking himself up and brushing off the pine needles.  "What the heck were you doing, Wufei?  You had me worried… I couldn't find you and then when I heard you call out…oh."  He fell into a sudden silence as he caught sight of Sally Po, standing there bemused.  

She was the first to recover, a sense of manners being ingrained in her since she arrived in Kyoto.  "So nice to meet you…I presume you are the infamous Duo Maxwell."

He grinned.  "Yeah, glad to know I'm building a reputation.  And you are?"

"Sally Po."

Wufei held back a laugh as Duo went white as a sheet.  Understandably.  Sally may have been beautiful and graceful in her own way, but she was also very intimidating at times.  Especially since she was doing nothing more than smiling politely - and unnervingly - at Duo.

"Um…" Duo found himself totally lost for words.  "You've, uh, you've heard about me."

"Yes," Sally said, still smiling.  "Hilde's told me all about you.  And about the engagement."

Wufei had to snicker now as Duo went an even paler shade of white.  "Oh.  Well, about that…it's not like we were never going to tell you…just waiting for the right time…uh, if there is such a thing…um…"

Sally calmly held up a hand to silence him.  "It's okay Duo.  Noin and I had a good talk with Hilde tonight and we've reached an agreement."

"Which is?" asked Duo, his heart in his mouth.

"I'm sure you'll make a wonderful husband for Hilde," said Sally.  "And if you don't, we'll make sure you regret it."

"Eep," was all Duo could say and Sally laughed.

"I'm joking.  Relax, Duo.  You and I will have to have a talk later to discuss the final details," she turned to Wufei again at this point.  "But for the time being, there are other things to take care of.  Wufei is badly injured, I want to see he's taken care of.  We can't take you to a doctor so I'll have to treat you.  But before that, I must find Heero Yuy.  Provided he's survived whatever private war you men have been involved in tonight."

"He's…" Duo hesitated, glancing at Wufei.  The look on the other man's face said that he hadn't been able to tell Sally about Relena either.  "Well, Heero's uninjured.  But Miss Po…"

"Good," she said, cutting him off.  "It would be a horrible fate, seeing as Relena was so lucky to still be alive, to find that Heero had been hurt instead.  She was terrified that would happen when we found her."

Duo stared at Sally, struggling to make sense of her words and then, struggling to believe they were saying what he thought they were saying.  

"Are you telling me Relena is alive?"

"I know.  It was a close thing," said Sally, shaking her head.  "If Noin and I hadn't come here tonight, Relena may have drowned in the river."  She could see Wufei and Duo had a hundred questions on their lips.  "I'll tell you all about it later, and you can fill me in on the details I seemed to have missed.  For the time being, it's imperative I find Heero and tell him this.  Where is he?"

Duo frowned.  "He took another way down the mountain, going back to his room at the Ichikoko.  At the rate he was moving, though, you'll never catch him.  He may well be back in Kyoto by now."

There was silence while Sally thought.  "I see.  Then perhaps fate has intervened on this one.  Perhaps it was never my place to speak to Heero."

"What?" asked Wufei.  "I don't understand."

"Never mind," said Sally, placing one arm around Wufei, mindful of his shoulder.  "You need medical attention.  Duo, you get on his other side."

"Where are we going now?"

"Back to my place."

"But what about Heero?" asked Duo.

"Don't worry," Sally assured him.  "He'll find out as soon as possible."  She bit her lip.  "But first I need to speak to Relena."

{

Less than an hour later, Relena was standing at the rear entrance to the Ichikoko teahouse, more nervous than she'd ever been in her life.  For the first time, she wasn't entering as Miss Relena, one of the most popular geisha in Gion, and thus, all of Japan.  She wasn't buoyed, as she was even on her worst days, by the thought that people had paid a lot of money for her company and would be thrilled even if she did nothing more than walk into their party and out again. 

No, tonight was not like all the other nights, and it showed in the way her hand trembled as she knocked on the door.  She took a breath to calm herself, to relieve the tension of knowing she nearly died tonight.  Maybe Noin had been right after all, maybe she shouldn't have come.

_"Sally, by the Gods, she was nearly drowned in the river tonight.  And shot too," Noin had said when Sally had left Wufei's side to speak with Relena.  "Should she be leaving the house at all?"_

_"Heero Yuy leaves for Tokyo tomorrow morning," replied Sally. "After that, he will be in China for anyone knows how long…Noin, as far as I'm concerned, too much has happened tonight…I can't help but believe that Relena's fate is to see him.."_

She was broken from the memory when a young maid Relena knew well, Chiyo-chan, answered the door.

"Miss Relena?" she asked in disbelief, "Is that you?"

Relena smiled, understanding Chiyo's confusion.  With her hair loose about her shoulders, with no make-up and one of her plainer kimonos, she may have been any other woman on the street.  She was pleased, though.  If little Chiyo could see her as just a woman, just Relena, maybe Heero could too.

"Yes, Chiyo, it's me.  Could you tell me, please, if General Yuy is in?"

Chiyo flushed bright red and smiled.  All of Gion was whispering about the romance between the General and Relena, but to find herself almost part of it was almost too romantic for the young maid.  "He came by just under a half-hour ago, then left again briefly.  He said he was going for a walk and would be back soon.  Should I take a message?"

Relena shook her head.  "No, that won't be necessary," she said.  "But I'll need to ask a favour of you Chiyo…can I trust you?"

"Of course, Miss Relena."

"Good.  Chiyo, I need you to take me to General Yuy's room.  And when he arrives, don't tell him I'm here…"

Chiyo-chan nodded vigorously.  "I can do that," she said.  "Is it like a surprise?  A secret meeting?  I can keep a secret."

"Yes, it is," said Relena.  "Thank you Chiyo.  Don't worry, one day I'll explain all this to you."

_That is, _thought Relena, _if I ever learn to understand it myself…_

{__

"Why is it, Wufei, of all of the men who were there tonight, you manage to be the only one badly injured?" asked Sally, gently cleaning his wound with a damp cloth.

"I suppose…" he gritted out, wincing at the cloth touched the wound, "I just attract trouble."

He grinned wryly at Sally and she paid him back for his cheek by pressing a little harder than she had to with the cloth.

"Ouch, that hurt."

"That will teach you to be nicer to those in a position to hurt you.  Now, do you want any sake before I make the stitches?  It will help with the pain…"

Wufei scowled.  "I don't need alcohol to deal with pain."

"Oh well, that's your choice then," said Sally, holding up a fine needle to the light.  "Okay, here we go."  She put the first stitch in and Wufei winced.  "Are you alright?" she asked.

"Maybe I will have some sake."

Sally laughed and passed him the bottle.  "Here.  You and your pride, Wufei.  One day it'll get you killed, you know."

"There are worse things in life than death, woman," he said softly, his gaze fixed on the roof above him.  His tone was so strange, Sally stopped her work to look up at him.

"Wufei?"

"I was married once, you know," he said and Sally turned her face away, continuing her work.  

"Wufei, you don't have to tell me these things.  The sake has loosened your tongue."

"Maybe for the best," he muttered.  "So many times I've looked back and regretted not saying what I felt.  I regret not being more attentive to my wife before she died.  I didn't love her - it was an arranged marriage and I barely knew her, barely knew myself.  But when soldiers attacked our town and I wasn't there to save her…I can't help but feel like I didn't do enough for her when she was alive, either."

Sally finished the last of the stitches and grabbed the sake bottle from him.  "I think maybe we should talk more in the morning," she said, her voice trembling from fear of what Wufei may say next.

"It's not the sake that's the issue, it's me.  Woman, that night I left you, after the fire, I didn't want to go.  But I couldn't let what happened with Meiran happen with you," he said, then added.  "Not when I love you."

Sally bit her lip, tears gathering in her eyes.  Here it was, the reason for Wufei's wall, his secrecy, his need to protect others lives at cost to his own, his unending desire for justice.  Here was the man she loved.

"Wufei…" she began, but couldn't find the words to continue.

"Sally…come back with me to China."

There was what seemed like an eternity of silence as Sally searched for words in the emotional turmoil of her mind.  "Wufei…I…I want to come with you.  But I have a life here."

Wufei raised an eyebrow.  "Do you?  When this war ends, Noin and her sisters will return to their home.  Hilde is engaged and if my suspicions are correct, you've just sent Relena to inform Heero she is still alive."

Sally nodded.  "You're right…but Wufei, are you sure?  I'm not…I'm not anyone of importance.  I'm barely even classed as Chinese anymore.  How will your family feel?"

"Does it matter?  It doesn't matter to me in the least.  Only say the word, Sally, and I will stay here with you," he told her, his dark eyes flashing with sincerity and passion.

"You'd give up your life in China to live here with me?" Sally asked in disbelief.

"Yes."

She smiled.  "There's no need for that, though.  I want to come with you, Wufei…I want to be with you.  I have since that first night."

Wufei's heart skipped a beat in happiness.  "Then come here, woman, and I will show you what I have wanted to do since that first night."

After that, there was very little more to be said between them.

{

Heero wearily passed a hand over his face as he slid open the door to his room.  It was so late in the evening the first glow of sunrise was peeking out over the mountains.   But he didn't care.  He didn't care about anything anymore.  For the past hour or so, he'd walked through Kyoto, looking but not seeing, hearing but not listening.  Over and over, the last few moments of Relena's life had flashed before his eyes.  In all his time as a soldier, in all his time on the battlefield, no one else's death had haunted him so.  Now, he felt his age and the weariness of a lifetime of fighting and all he wanted to do was sleep.  Maybe, if he wished for it hard enough, he wouldn't wake up, to feel the sun on his face, the fresh air around him and know that for all of this, the world would hold no more beauty in it for him now that she had left it.

In the darkness, he shrugged his outer coat off and sighed to the empty room, feeling himself struggle with the pain in his heart.  "Relena…"

"Heero."

He turned and Relena watched his face go through a myriad of emotions: shock, disbelief, relief and…though it may have just been wishful thinking on her part…desire.  She saw his eyes play out his feelings, never believing there could be so many shades of cobalt blue.  And as she realised how much he was saying to her without speaking a word, a tremor ran up her spine at the knowledge that he would be the only man she could ever know this way.

He shook his head, breaking the spell.  "No, you can't be here," he said, almost to himself.  "I saw you…you…it's not possible."

"Heero, it's alright," she whispered, afraid to startle him even more.  "I'm alive, I'm okay."  Carefully, she reached out a hand in comfort, resting it against his cheek.

He tensed under her touch, wary of letting himself believe she was really here, letting himself think that the warmth of her hand against the coolness of his skin was anything more than his tired mind becoming delusional.  But she did not take her hand away.

"How?" Was all he could say.

Silently, with her other hand, she pulled her fan from her obi and gave it to him.  He tilted it back and forth, seeing how the bullet had shattered the onyx.  

"Feel my touch, Heero," she whispered.  "See my side…there's no wound.  I'm alive…and I'm with you."

It was like a dam breaking, like a bolt of lighting in the cloudy sky.  In the space of a breath, the fan fell to the ground, landing unnoticed as Heero clasped Relena's face in his hands.  She had a split second to see that his eyes were never so blue as when lit by passion before he was kissing her deeply, with such need it took her breath away.  In all the time she'd known him, loved him, he'd never kissed her like this before, his lips playing with hers, his tongue teasing her as his body pressed against hers.  She grasped his collar: it was all she could do to support herself.

And then, just when Relena thought she was going to burst into flames from Heero's fervor, the kiss changed.  He softened it, teasing her lips with tiny, gentle kisses, shifting his hands to her waist, holding her against him.  Tingling all over with sensation, Relena moaned and Heero shifted his attention to her slender neck, brushing back the curtain of her hair to press sensual little kisses along her smooth skin.

"Oh, Heero."

Suddenly, he let her go and Relena found herself shivering in the cool morning air, bereft of the warmth of his embrace.

"I'm sorry," he said, stepping back and running a hand through his hair.  "I got carried away, I'm moving too fast."

Relena just smiled sweetly, reaching out a hand and grasping his.  "Heero, by some strange blessing from the gods, I'm still here.  I've been given one more night than I should have, and I won't waste it on doubt and fear."  She pulled him forward, reached up and kissed him with all the love and ardor she could muster.

"Relena," said Heero, still unsure.  He knew what she was asking, and god knew he wanted to respond.  Damn, every cell in his body wanted to respond, and he felt like he was going to explode, to combust from the inside out if he didn't have her tonight.  She was so gentle, so warm and real and alive in his arms… He needed her more than air tonight.  

But the real world was still out there, and when this night was over, would it let them be?  Would he be able to remain happy and here with her?  On the other hand, he'd tried to distance himself from her before for both their sakes, and nearly ended up losing her altogether.  No, she was right.  They deserved tonight.

"Heero?" Relena asked, knowing he was deep in thought.  "Is everything okay?"

He smiled, his first genuine smile in a long time, and took her into his arms.  "Everything's better than okay, it's perfect."  And with that, he kissed her and thanked whatever powers had let him keep her for one more night.

{

As the sun rose over the mountains, Heero and Relena sat on the balcony of Heero's room, wrapped only in a blanket.  They watched the dawn in silence, content to merely be there in each other's embrace.

"Relena," Heero whispered.

"Yes?" she replied, leaning her head back against his chest to see his face.

"I love you."

She turned back towards the dawn, "I know that.  I love you too, Heero."

"I'm not just saying that because of last night," said Heero softly.  "I want to stay here with you.  You're all that matters to me and I want us to be together."

Relena smiled.  Those were the words she had been waiting for, for so long.  "When you get back from Tokyo, we will be together."

Heero shook his head.  "I don't think you understand what I'm saying.  I'm not going to go to Tokyo.  I'm going to give up the responsibility of this treaty to someone else and stay here with you.  I'll talk to Sally about becoming your danna, or if that won't work, I'll pay off your debts and..."

"What?"  Relena spun in his embrace, the full impact of his words coming down on her like a bucket of ice, like an earthquake threatening to rock her world to the core.  "You can't mean that.  You aren't giving up on the peace treaty, are you?  It's what you've worked so hard for, and it won't work without you supporting it."

"I thought it meant the world to me," said Heero solemnly, "but seeing you last night, ready to give your life up for my dream... It gave me clarity.  I saw that nothing in this world is more important to me than you.  I won't leave you alone and risk having you hurt in order for someone else to get to me. Trieze may not have been my only enemy, and certainly not the only one who would consider using you against me."

"Then take me with you to Tokyo," said Relena.  "I'm sure we can work something out with Sally and Noin."

"You won't be any safer there," Heero replied.  "No, the only way to keep you safe is for the peace treaty becomes someone else's responsibility."

"But Heero, that treaty means so much to so many people.  You're the hope for so many."

"And you're the hope for me."  He took her face in his hands.  "I won't lose you, Relena.  I would rather die than leave your side or put you in harm's way...again.  You were right: the Gods were sending us a message by saving your life.  I won't be so foolish as to ignore it.  Giving up the treaty is a small price to pay."

Relena was distraught.  This wasn't happening, it couldn't be happening.  If she let Heero give up his effort for peace for her sake, she would never be able to look into the mirror without seeing the faces of all the thousands of people who would die if the war did not end.  "Heero, that treaty means peace."

But he would not be swayed. "Peace will mean nothing without you.  I would rather fight a hundred more wars and know you are safe, than bring about peace and know it could cost me your life."  His voice became softer.  "I saw you die once, Relena, I won't let it happen again.  My mind is made up.  Today, Duo will go to Tokyo in my place and explain things to the Emperor.  What he chooses to do after that is no longer my concern."

"Oh, Heero," said Relena, her heart breaking. _What have I done?_

He brought her face up to his.  "Don't worry; everything will work out for the best.  You'll see."  He kissed her then but even as he did, tears were gathering in Relena's eyes.  He may have been happy to live with the sacrifice of peace, but she could not - especially knowing it was because of her.[JRB1] [JRB1]

Deep in her heart, deep where her fears and hopes resided, she knew what she had to do.  It would take all the acting skills she'd learnt as a geisha, and all the courage she had to pull it off, but there was no other way.  It had to be done.

Putting on the best smile she could muster, Relena pulled away and stood up.  "If your mind is made up, there's nothing I can do.  I love you Heero, and I trust in your decision."

He nodded.  "I couldn't lose you, Relena.  Not again."

"I understand.  I'll just get changed and ask for some food to be sent up.  We can discuss details over breakfast."

"Of course."

Relena went back in the room and dressed in her kimono as quickly as she possibly could.  If she was going to do this, it had to be done quickly - before she lost her nerve.

A few minutes later, she was back with two teacups, a teapot and some macha: thick, green Japanese tea.  Heero was dressed and seated at the small table.  

"They will be bringing some food up soon," said Relena. Then, as tradition dictated, she prepared the tea in a ceremonial fashion, mixing the tea into a green broth, then pouring two cups, one for Heero then one for herself.

Heero smiled gratefully as she passed him his cup.  He let it cool, then brought it to his lips.  "Mmmm, that's good.  I can't believe how thirsty I am."

"It's been a long day," said Relena.  "You haven't stopped since yesterday morning, I imagine.  Plus, you must still be recovering from that wound."

Heero frowned.  "I can't believe I was snuck up on so easily.  If one of my soldiers was so easily ambushed, I would have had no sympathy for him."  He paused to yawn.  "It has been a long day, though.  I'm so tired."

Relena watched him carefully.

"In fact," Heero added, his eyes drooping.  "I'm suddenly very tired.  Relena, something's not right..."

She didn't move, not even when Heero's head began to fall towards the table.  And that's when he saw it.

Relena hadn't touched her tea.

_If one of my soldiers were so easily ambushed, I would have had no sympathy for him._

Thinking back on his words, Heero couldn't believe how stupid he'd been.

_Sleeping drugs in the tea._

"Relena..."  He wanted to speak to her, wanted to ask why.  But it was pointless - he knew why.  But he didn't understand and he didn't want to - why wouldn't she let him protect her?  

He no longer had the strength to speak; his eyes were as heavy as lead, his body was as weary as if the past 5 years or so of battle had finally caught up with him all at once.

As his head hit the table, he managed to lift his eyes up to her face.  Tears streamed down her cheeks and her lip trembled.  "I'm so sorry, Heero," she whispered.  "But you left me with no other choice.  I couldn't give up all their lives for mine, even one as happy as I would be by your side.  Do know that I love you.  And I know one day you'll understand and maybe even be able to forgive me.  But until then, please forget me.  Live on as if I never existed."

Heero's eyes closed and unconsciousness pulled him in.  But he managed to say one last word to her - the woman he loved, the woman who had betrayed him.

"Wasurenai."

And then darkness enclosed him and he knew no more.

Translations:

Macha: a special type of green tea.

By the way, in teahouses like the Ichikoko, food isn't actually served by the geisha, but by maids. Geisha really only serve tea or sake, and that isn't for servicing sake but the interaction between client and geisha is a good starting point for conversation. (Think of it as the Japanese equivalent of "Can I get you a beer?")  

**Author's note:** Um...okay...well...I guess you're just going to have to keep reading now, hey?  *Dodges flying axes*  Hey I said I was sorry for the cliffhangers last time.  Am I going to have to say it again?  *Recieves numerous death glares*  Okay, okay, I'm sorry...geez, tough crowd.

By the way, if you've decided to read the edited version, to fill you in, Heero and Relena have sex.  Just so you know.

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PAGE \# "'Page: '#'  
'"  [JRB1]


	14. Seasons

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Author: Fallen Angel

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Rating: This one is only PG

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Disclaimer: Don't own, much to my regret

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Author's Note: Here we are finally: the last chapter. I hope you've all enjoyed the ride. Sorry for the ending to the last chapter, I realise you were ready to cause me bodily harm for that. *bows deeply* My apologies. I'm sure you're all dying to read on, but just before you do, this chapter is dedicated to the following:

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Black Rose - your support is always appreciated. I'm sure we all feel the same way.

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Morrighan - your regular reviews were always uplifting (and sometimes threatening. Lol)

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Beck - the waiting is finally over.

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Melville's Best Friend - Surely I'm not that mean. *points to halo* See? I'm an angel. Lol. Well, sometimes.

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Wing

Mistress Shinigami

Dragonlady9

Zipdos

Angel of Death

Numena

Shadowcat

Sissi

Aku_ryo

Wing

Sweet Angel

Shimizu Hitomi

Funnybones2K

Maeko

And many others….Thank you so much for your reviews….Please enjoy the finale to Butterflies of the Night…

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Chapter 14: Seasons

When Duo arrived at the Ichikoko, the scene before him was certainly not what he'd expected. A solemn and - if his instincts were worth their salt - a recently crying Relena opened the door to Heero's room. 

When Duo had returned to Sally Po's residence last night he'd overheard that the young geisha would deliver the news of her survival to Heero herself. Overjoyed to see her alive, Duo was even more pleased that maybe she was someone to break Heero out of his perpetual shell of stoicism. So he'd been half-expecting, half-hoping she would be in the room.

What he hadn't expected, however, was to find her in such a dispirited state and Heero lying unconscious on the futon.

"What happened?" Duo asked, quickly going to check the pulse of his friend,. He let out a relieved sigh when he detected a strong, but slowed heartbeat.

Relena's voice was distant as she replied, "Sleeping drugs in the tea."

Duo cursed. "How did this happen? Do you know who did it?"

"Yes," said Relena.

"Good, I'll get their description, then I'll have to send a message to Wufei and..."

"Duo, it was me."

Duo froze mid-sentence and gaped at her. "What? You're kidding, right?"

She shook her head. "I only wish I was. I poisoned the tea, Duo. Heero will be fine - he'll wake up tonight with a mild headache, but he'll be fine."

"He damn well won't!" cried Duo, striding over to stand in front of Relena. Only his deeply seeded sense of propriety prevented him from shaking her. "Why? I thought you loved him! This doesn't make any sense."

"I do love him, Duo, and that's why I had to do it," She took a deep breath, trying to halt the threat of more tears. "He was going to give up everything he'd worked so hard for.He was going to give up the peace treaty to stay here with me. I couldn't let that happen. You know only he can bring an end to this war it was never his destiny to leave peace behind for me."

Duo stood there, trying to get his head around the whole situation. "So rather than let him stay here with you…Rather than be happy with him…You drugged him?"

"I knew you were coming," she replied. "While he's asleep, you can take him to Tokyo. By the time he wakes up, it will be too late. After what I've done, I doubt he'll want to come back here, anyway." A stray tear fell down her cheek. "You have to understand, Duo, so that you can help him make sense of it later. I had to break the ties between us for the sake of peace. I love him so much, I would rather he live on in peace, than live with me and the threat of war."

Duo was dumbfounded, struck by the intense love and courage of the young geisha. She may have still been a young woman, but in her eyes he saw wisdom far beyond her years. 

"You really do love him, don't you?"

Relena smiled sadly. "More than I ever imagined I could love anyone. I love him so much, I'm willing to lose his love so that he will live on in peace."

With understanding and sympathy on his face, Duo nodded. "You have more courage than I do, Miss Relena. I don't know if I could ever give up Hilde. Her love keeps me alive."

"Then you understand how I feel, Duo," said Relena. She bowed her head and let out a weary sigh. " I feel as if I'm already dead." 

"Relena," Duo began.

"I'm going to leave now. I know you'll find a way to get him to Tokyo. You're very loyal, Duo. Heero will need that over the next few days."

Still as graceful as ever, Relena stepped past him towards the door.

"Wait!" Duo called. 

She stopped but did not turn, even when Duo spoke. 

"Relena...what do I tell him? What do I say to make him understand? It won't sound right coming from me; I'm not sure I know what he needs to hear."

Relena's shoulders shuddered as if she were sighing, or maybe crying: Duo couldn't tell. "Tell him...tell him I love him. It's all he needs to know."

***

__

6 months later:

The cool breeze of autumn blew from the peak of the mountaintops, down into the valley, across the fields and orchards and finally, through the windows of Noin and Relena's home.

Midway between her calligraphy stroke, Relena paused and felt the breeze caress her face. It ruffled her paper and her now loosely-worn hair, but she didn't mind. The breeze brought change, her brother had once told her, and there was never anything wrong with change for though it may bring bad times, it was constantly happening. New beginnings were always waiting just over the horizon.

Relena sighed and tried to smile. She understood this now, more than ever. The last six months had brought turmoil and joy, pain and bittersweet happiness.

Once Heero had left for Tokyo, she had returned home in a daze. The moment she walked through the door, Sally and Noin had wanted to know what had happened, their faces anxious, as if they realised something was wrong. Relena couldn't find the words. Even months later, when she finally had the strength to speak her heart, the telling still brought her pain. Since then, everyone had been kind enough never to mention Heero, or anything to do with the General.

But it couldn't have been too hard for them, thought Relena, considering how busy their own lives had been. Soon after Heero went to Tokyo, Duo returned and married Hilde in a small, but joyous ceremony. By that time, Duo's joyful demeanour had worn down whatever was left of Sally and Noin's annoyance at his secret affair with Hilde and they both found themselves wholeheartedly approving of the marriage - especially when, after the couple had settled into a small house on the outskirts of Kyoto, Hilde announced they would be expecting their first child in the spring. Relena and Noin had already agreed to visit to help her out. Hilde had jokingly written back in a letter that Duo was looking more stressed than she was at the thought of impending parenthood.

Relena looked out upon the valley towards Kyoto and wished she could see Hilde more often than she did. But since returning home, there was so much work to be done that she and Noin were working constantly just to maintain the property. Still, they were grateful. Once Sally announced that she was leaving for China with Wufei, she also announced that the sale of the okiya and all its kimono and treasures would be sold and the profits divided up evenly between them. At first, Noin and Relena had protested that Sally would need her money for the future and technically, they were still in debt to her. But once she'd confided in them that Wufei was of the Imperial family and marriage was certainly not an impossible prospect, Relena and Noin had gratefully taken the money and used it as a deposit on a loan to buy their house back. With peace settling in throughout the country, the bank was willing to lend them the money...After all, it was only a matter of time before Japan was back on its feet. There would be a lot of rebuilding to do. - Sally wrote often and said she and Wufei were kept continuously busy helping to rebuild towns in China - but at least they were home.

Noin's voice intruded on Relena's thoughts.

"Relena!" she called.

"In here." 

Noin appeared at the door, smiling and radiant.

"Relena, I just spoke to Mrs. Tanaka and she said that she heard a platoon of soldiers from Tokyo had arrived in Nara last week and that some of them were heading towards Hiroshima. Maybe Milliardo will be with them." Her eyes sparkled as she relayed the news.

"Oh, Noin, that's fantastic," said Relena, rejoicing at the thought of seeing her brother. She tried to block out the memories of another soldier who still held a place in her heart. Oh, who was she kidding? He held her heart. Even in all the months that had passed since she'd last seen him she couldn't forget him, couldn't banish him from her memory. Even more torturous, she could still feel the warmth of his touch on her skin, the feel of him inside of her… She shook her head. This wouldn't do at all. Heero was gone from her life; she needed to move on.

"By the way," Noin added, holding up a letter in very good quality _washi. _"Tanaka-san brought this from the city. It's from Dorothy and Quatre."

"Really?" asked Relena; she tore open the envelope. "I haven't heard from Dorothy for a while. But I know she'll have been very busy finding and training a replacement to take over the Ichikoko when she leaves." She pulled a gold-embossed card from the envelope. "Hey, it's an invite to their wedding. A few weeks before New Years. That's fantastic! we were planning to visit Hilde and Duo for the holidays anyway."

"It's about time," said Noin. "They've been engaged for so long, I think the gossips around town were beginning to believe it wasn't going to happen."

Relena waved a hand to dismiss the thought. "Dorothy's been busy, that's all. Besides, we all knew it would happen. It certainly will be a story for the maiko to tell," said Relena wistfully. "One of the richest men in Kyoto breaks off his arranged engagement to marry the geisha he loves. I'm happy for Dorothy: she hasn't had enough kindness in her life."

Noin smiled sadly. "It will happen for you too, Relena."

Relena didn't meet Noin's eyes. "Maybe. One day." She couldn't bring herself to tell Noin the truth. She had had that kind of love, that kind of happiness. And then she'd had to give it up for the peace that they were now enjoying.

"Relena..." began Noin, knowing what her sister was thinking, but she was cut off by the sound of a knock at the front door.

"I wonder who that is," said Noin. "Maybe Mrs. Tanaka forgot to give me something. Tanaka-san, is that you?" she asked, sliding open the door.

"I'm afraid not," a deep, but familiar voice said. 

Noin's eyes traveled up from where she had expected to see Mrs. Tanaka's much shorter form to the visitor's face, and gasped in disbelief. 

"By the Gods, Milliardo?"

He was taller than she remembered and leaner. But there was no mistaking those eyes, even if the expression had changed slightly, worn by the experience of battle. Noin had seen those eyes for years, searching her features as he made love to her, bright like stars when he smiled at her in the mornings. No, there was no mistaking them. The man before her was her husband.

"Oh, Milliardo." She threw herself into his arms, tears streaming down her face. "It's been so long...I was beginning to fear I'd never get you back."

He held her tightly, breathing in the scent of her, feeling the familiar sensation of her soft body against his. "Noin, Noin, Noin," he whispered into her hair, like a prayer, a mantra. And it was. This was what had kept him fighting to stay alive all these years, what had kept him wanting to live on when all was lost. "I missed you so much."

"I know," Noin replied, and kissed him with all the built-up hunger of years' worth of waiting. "There's so much I have to tell you, so much I want to say, but it can wait for tonight."

That same mischievous gleam came to Milliardo's eyes and Noin was glad to see that the years apart had by no means dulled her husband's desire for her. If anything, it seemed to have made it stronger.

"Relena will want to see you, too," said Noin; she stepped aside and pulled her husband into the house. As if on cue, Relena appeared in the room, her face a mask of disbelief.

"Oniisan?" she asked. "Is that really you?

Millliardo smiled and opened his arms. "Little sister," he said, barely finishing the words before she ran to him, letting herself be wrapped up in his embrace. "I missed you too, Relena. Now step back and let me look at you."

She did so and his mouth fell open in shock. "By the gods."

"What is it?"

"It's just...when I left, you were still a little girl and now...now you're a woman." A look of sadness filled his eyes. "I wanted so badly to be there to watch you grow up, to grow into an adult."

"Oh, Milliardo," Relena said, wrapping her arms around her brother's torso. "I'm still your little sister. And we have time to catch up on everything that's happened." A tiny pang of worry hit Relena when she thought about how Milliardo would react to the news that she had become a geisha to support her family while he was gone. She shot a look to Noin, but Noin just nodded. She understood and she tried to reassure Relena that Milliardo would understand too.

"Now, Relena," her sister-in-law said, stepping forward. "Milliardo must be exhausted. Come to the dining room and we'll have some tea and talk, okay?"

Relena turned to her brother, taking his arm. "Of course. You must be so tired after a long journey. Did you come all the way from Hiroshima on your own?"

"No, actually. Funny you should ask," said Milliardo, a strange look on his face. "I had a special escort. He rode with me from Hiroshima all the way to the road at the bottom of our property."

"Really?" asked Noin. "Who was it?"

"General Yuy himself. He arrived in Tokyo just as I was leaving and asked to join our group travelling south. He seemed especially interested in where I lived. I asked him why he would bother coming all this way just for me, but he would only tell me it was for personal reasons. I suppose he must know someone in the area."

Noin was silent and glanced quickly at Relena. The young woman had gone pale, her face drained of colour. Milliardo hadn't noticed, but then again, he wouldn't have the slightest idea of all that had happened between his younger sister and the General. 

"Relena," said Noin and the one word seemed to snap her out of her trance.

"I have to go," she simply said. "I have to."

And with that, she pulled away from Milliardo and ran for the front door.

"Relena, wait!" called Milliardo. "Where are you going?"

But she was already out of the house and running down the path. Noin came and took her husband's hand. "Leave her, Milliardo. Let's have some tea and I'll tell you all about it." He looked at her quizzically, but she just shook her head. "Trust me, it's a long story."

***

Relena ran as fast as her legs could carry her. She didn't care that she was ruining her nice geta or that her kimono would be soiled by mud; she took a shortcut off the path and through the woods. In fact, she didn't care about anything except Heero. For six long months, she had believed that he was a dream of the past, never to return to her. She had sadly begun to believe that she would only ever know that kind of love once in her life - and there was no way to have it back.

Now, to discover that Heero had returned to Tokyo and come all the way out to Hiroshima....She couldn't banish the thought that maybe he was hoping to see her. Maybe he was brought here by the thought of her, just as the thought of him was spurring her along now, giving air to her stinging lungs, strength to her weary muscles.

Then, just when she thought she could run no more, she saw him, almost in the exact same spot she first met him, riding along the road near her house. And like last time, she knew there was only one was to stop him.

Jumping from the raised ridge along the road, she hit Heero mid-flight, knocking him from his horse and bringing them both to a rough, rolling landing on the ground. Startled, Heero's horse threatened to bolt, but Heero recovered much more quickly than his animal, grabbing his attacker by the wrists and pinning him to the ground.

But it wasn't a him. It was a her. 

Heero couldn't believe his eyes. "Relena. What are you doing here?"

Panting for breath, she replied, "I should ask you the same question. I live here. Why are you here?"

He let her go and offered her a hand up, but she rejected it. "No," she said, "I'm not moving until I get an answer."

An awkward silence settled upon them and in that time, Heero couldn't help but stare at Relena - beautiful even when sitting in the dirt of the road. His eyes soaked up the sight of her like a man who had been thirsting for three days would soak up water. And that's what she was to him: water, air, life. He realised now that he had remembered her perfectly: every line of her face, every nuance of colour in her eyes. She may no longer be a geisha, but she was still stunning. If anything, the slight tinge of a tan and the new leanness to her body added to her beauty. 

"Heero? Are you listening to me?" Relena asked and wondered if he was okay. In the past six months, she'd been listening to every report and rumour about what the General was doing. Much of it was news passed on from Duo, but even that was sketchy. Truthfully, she had no idea what it had been like in China, appearing before the leaders of his enemies, wondering about the woman who'd betrayed him. It must have been hard and now all she could do was interrogate him. But she wanted to know...needed to know.

"I..." he sighed, running a hand through his hair. "Gods, Relena, you know why I'm here!"

"Then say it, Heero," she said, not caring that the desperation was showing in her voice. She _was_ desperate. "Please, I've waited so long to see you. I need to hear the words."

"I'm here to see you, and you know it," he told her and she accepted his help up. The mere physical contact of holding his hand for a moment was sweet torture for her, but Relena knew that now was the time to talk. There was, on both sides, much to be said.

"Does that mean you've forgiven me?" she asked, fearful of his answer.

"I don't know, Relena, forgive you for what? For betraying me? For lying to me? For saying you were fine with my decision when you obviously weren't...?"

"I tried to convince you to go..."

He ignored her. "Or maybe you want forgiveness for poisoning me and having me sent to Tokyo against my will, knowing full well that I would never have left otherwise. Or maybe, just maybe, you want to apologise for destroying me."

"Heero..." There was so much she wanted to explain, but he was so bitter and she couldn't blame him.

"Lost for words, are we?" he asked, his voice colder than she'd ever heard it, his eyes like ice. "You know, this place brings back memories. It was here that I told you I'd kill you. How wrong I turned out to be,. I was the one who got stabbed in the back."

That was the last straw for Relena. She didn't want to be defensive or mad. God knew the only thing she really wanted to do at the moment was kiss him until her lips almost hurt, urge him to make love to her as she knew he could. But he had pushed her too far, and she could take no more.

"You think I died for you on that night at the temple, Heero?" she asked, bringing her face close to his. "The truth is, I've been dying for you for the past six months. I've had to watch as everyone has a brand new start on life, rejoicing in this peace, while I'm alone and my heart is breaking. Don't you dare talk to me about pain, Heero Yuy, when you have no idea what I've been going through since that last morning I saw you."

"Then tell me why you did it, Relena," Heero said, advancing on her in return. The force of his personality, the cold anger in his voice pushed her backwards more forcefully than if he'd touched her. She found herself stepping away from him, yet on he came, his words demanding. "Tell me why you betrayed me...I'm dying to know."

Tears gathered in Relena's eyes, not so much from his angry words but from the thought that his anger might be stronger than his love. "Heero...I only wanted to give you peace. If I had to give you up so that you would have it, then so be it. I hoped, in time, you would understand."

Heero moved closer, though he did not touch her. "I loved you, Relena. I would have laid the world at your feet it you'd only asked."

The tears were flowing now, and Relena was powerless to stop them. He'd said _loved._ Past tense. "Don't lie. You would have sacrificed the peace of the world to be with me. It's not the same thing. I loved you Heero and I still love you, but I couldn't lie on a bed with you, knowing it had been tainted with the blood of all those who would die without the treaty..." She struggled to speak as the sobs wracked her body. Yet still, he did not comfort her. He didn't even move and she kept her gaze to her feet, afraid of what she would see in his eyes if she dared to look.

"You weren't betrayed," she said in a whisper. "I was. I was betrayed by fate, by being given such a choice: the lives of thousands of men I didn't even know, or the love of the one man who meant the world to me."

There was an indrawn breath from Heero. Whether of anger or understanding, Relena didn't know, but the next thing she felt was Heero's arms around her and his hand pulling her head in beneath his chin.

As sweet as it felt to be held by him again, it meant nothing without his forgiveness. "Please don't hold me if you don't mean it," she whispered into his chest.

He laughed, a half-sad, half-relieved laugh. "Then please don't ask me to let you go."

Relena raised her head. "Does this mean what I think it does?"

Heero looked in her eyes, eyes so young but had seen so much and found himself drowning so deep he couldn't think of the words. Actions would have to do, he decided and he kissed her, deeply and longingly. She responded immediately, as softly and as sweetly as he remembered, as he'd dreamed about. When the need for air was too strong, when the passion threatened to completely rob him of his senses, Heero pulled away.

"I didn't mean what I said," he told her. "I do still love you. And I want to marry you. The Emperor has said that I can have..."

"Yes," she said quickly.

He smiled. "You haven't even heard all that I have planned for us."

Relena shook her head. "It doesn't matter. All I want is you, the rest doesn't matter to me."

He took her hand. "Let's go, then. I want to speak to your brother and have things organised as soon as possible. I've been waiting six months for this."

"I've been waiting all my life," said Relena, half to herself. 

"What was that?"

"Nothing."

Heero raised an eyebrow at her as they walked up the path back to the house. "You're not like other women, Relena."

She raised her head indignantly. "Of course not."

"I mean it. You willingly throw your life away for others, you poison your lover's tea because it's the right thing to do and you don't even care for riches and land."

Relena pulled her hand from his and slowed her steps. "I hope this has a good point to it."

"All I'm saying is, being married to you will certainly be an experience," said Heero, giving her a wry smile.

Smiling in return, Relena ran at him, tackling him to the ground and rolling so she sat on top of him. "And you'll love every minute of it," she said.

"Indeed I will," he replied, a low note to his words letting Relena know exactly what he was thinking about in their current position.

"Heero..." Relena said, looking around warily. They were hidden from view from the house by long grass, but if Noin or Milliardo came down looking for them...

"Don't worry." Heero knew what she was thinking. "If I were your brother, I wouldn't be leaving the house anytime soon."

She slapped him playfully on the arm. "Don't be crude."

"Then don't pretend you haven't thought about that night at least a few times in the past six months."

Relena could feel herself blushing. "Maybe."

"Good," he said, pulling her down to him and kissing her. "In any case, we're engaged now."

"Engaged," Relena mumbled against his lips. "I like the sound of that."

"Oh, I almost forgot," Heero said, breaking the kiss but keeping her in his arms. "I have an engagement gift for you."

"Already?"

Heero reached into his kimono top and pulled out a package, wrapped in red silk, not much longer than his hand.

"What is it?" asked Relena, taking it.

"Open it and find out."

Relena pulled the tie loose and let the package unwrap. Something long and light fell into her hand and it took her a moment to recognise what it was. When she did, her eyes widened in disbelief.

"My fan," she whispered. "The one I gave to you that night."

"I had put it in my kimono when we woke up. I didn't want it to get lost. Looking back, I'm glad I did; it was all I had to remember you by. Though I didn't need to. I told you I wouldn't forget, Relena. Not in six months, not in six years."

"Heero," Relena's eyes met his and she saw, for just a moment, through the wall he put around his heart. She saw the pain, the sorrow at being betrayed by the one person he'd let into his heart.

"I won't forget either, Heero," she said solemnly. "I wouldn't be able to forget you. And I promise never to betray you like that ever again. I'll make it up to you, I swear."

He smiled past the sadness in his eyes. "No hurry. We have the rest of our lives."

"More than that. We have forever."

He took her hands in his. "I do love you, Relena."

She brought his hands to her lips and kissed his fingers. "And I love you."

And as the warmth of the midday sun shone down on an otherwise unremarkable field in Hiroshima province, the two lovers proved it.

__

The End.

****

Translations:

Washi: A thin, rice paper, used for letters, etc.

Oniisan: Big brother

****

Author's Note: Well, there we were…please let me know what you think…it may be the end but I'm always happy to hear your thoughts. More fics will be up soon so please keep an eye out. In case you're wondering, the spinoffs to "Oceans and Skies" start soon as well as a new saga. Yours truly, Fallen Angel.


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